In Time
by ColourfulF
Summary: Kamijou Touma, a boy plagued with misfortune so bad that he ended up in an unknown world named Halkeginia. There, he met a girl named Leivinia Birdway. In time to come, he would realize that there are things that cannot be changed no matter how hard he tries.
1. Prologue

**_Prologue: In Time_  
**

* * *

 **Part 1**

"Of all people, why me?!"

A spiky-haired boy was running across the street with his school briefcase in hand.

The rumbling noise from the cars driving along the road beside him only increased his frustration at his current situation. People could be heard chatting at a bus stop, waiting for their buses to bring to them to work.

Yesterday, in spite of his world record breaking dash to the bus stop when he woke up an hour late for school, an inconsiderate act from a random passer-by resulted in his defeat. If only he had not slipped on a banana peel. If only the bus came just a minute later.

However, today was a different story.

When he ran past that bus stop, whatever those people were chatting about before completely changed.

It was not because there was something wrong about this boy. Other than his spiky hair being his most distinctive feature, there was nothing remarkable in terms of his appearance about this high school student named Kamijou Touma.

In terms of his luck however...

A foreign blonde-haired girl with blue eyes dressed in a white dress and black stocking covering her entire legs chasing behind him had a cruel smirk on her face as she let loose a fireball the size of a tennis ball from her flower shaped wand.

The fireball flew past Touma and blew up the concrete in front of him. Both the shock at what she did and the impact knocked him down backwards.

"Damm!" Touma said.

Several fireballs rained down on Touma, and he stretched his right hand to negate those that would strike him directly. Burning hot concrete bombarded Touma as the remaining fireballs struck the area around him.

Standing in front of Touma, the girl shook her head. "You know, sometimes I wonder how in the bloody world you managed to defeat an army of 70,000 all by yourself."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Ah yes, how could I have forgotten. You can't remember anything at all."

It all started when Touma offered to help a lost foreign girl who introduced herself as Leivinia Birdway to a famous tourist destination in the city until she brandished her flower shaped wand and launched a series of impossible feats that he had only seen in fantasy TV shows so far.

 _Your right hand has a power named Imagine Breaker which can negate all my attacks. To be exact, it can negate any supernatural phenomena. It's only limited to your right hand, so don't be a retard and get your left hand blown off or something._

 _... You are also a pervert who likes peeping at females while they are changing._

 _... And a bloody retard as well._

Those were the few things he had 'forgotten' together with the other nonsensical stuffs she uttered while engaging him on a life and death chase. The only thing he had forgotten was how misfortunate he truly can be. Besides, why does every girl sees him as a pervert anyway?! He was not a pervert! Nobody ever believes this poor Kamijou that it was just a misunderstanding caused by his misfortune.

Touma sighed, fear no longer evident on his face. Initially, it was shocking to see a human throwing a fireball out of nowhere, but after thinking about for it for a moment, wasn't this impossible feat just another creative method those unreasonable people used as an attempt to kill him for being a jinx before he entered this city known as Academy City?

"I think you need help. Let me get you to the nearest mental hospital first. Have you been skipping your medication? I know many of you have the tendency to skip medications because you don't believe you're sick, but that's not good you know?"

Leivinia rolled her eyes, "Very funny."

Her flower shaped wand morphed into a sword. She swung the sword down. A gust of wind blasted the group of black armored vans and cautious Anti-Skill officers wielding rifles and shields who were surrounding them away.

"I wonder who's the one who needs actual help."

Touma let out a chuckle as he clenched his right fist. Like what the girl had said, his right hand could negate her attacks. He was not powerless against her.

"Well, I do need actual help in making you stay put while I punch that stupid face of yours. Honestly, I'm pretty excited to see how much more misfortunate I can get. Give it your best, airhead."

"Yo-You..." Leivinia trembled in anger, "Did you just call me an airhead?! "

Another swing from her sword summoned another gust of wind, shattering the windows from the nearby shophouses on her right.

"You must be a bloody airhead to dare insult me, Leivinia Birdway."

Touma just stared at her, unimpressed. This unexpected reaction forced Leivinia's cruel smirk into a curious gaze.

"You... are not afraid at all?"

"After a while, you just stop being scared of things if you still want to live. I don't understand why you're here, why are you telling me those strange things, and why you're attacking me, but in time I'll understand why if its important enough. For now, I guess I don't have a choice but to punch the air out of your empty head. Do you even realize how much damage you've caused to the people around you and the government of this city?"

Leivinia smiled. It felt like the girl before and the girl now with the smile was two completely different person.

"That's right. In time, you'll understand why I'm here."

She tilted her head to one side. "Speaking of which... she's here."

Leivinia leaped towards a building behind Touma, leaving him with multiple fractures and burn injuries in a street laid in ruins.

* * *

 **Part 2**

"Why am I not surprised it was you." A boy wearing sunglasses with spiky hair mixed between green and blonde said as he scrolled through an article using his smartphone.

He was Touma's classmate, Tsuchimikado Motoharu, seated at the table beside him

"Such misfortune indeed."

Touma leaned back on his chair inside a classroom and let out a tired sigh. After two weeks of observation in the hospital, the doctor decided he was well enough and discharged him. Today was his first day back at school. As usual, due to his misfortune, getting to school was an adventure almost interesting enough to be written as a chapter in a novel.

"Any idea why she chose you as the victim?" Motoharu said.

"Because it was fun?"

Motoharu slammed his smartphone down and broke into laughter. "Because it was fun?! Such misfortune indeed!"

Even if this was Academy City, a city in Japan with technology far more advanced than the world, no one could accept the fact that a mere foreign girl had the power to cause such destruction rivaled by a light artillery strike with presumably the sword she held on one hand.

Within the past two weeks after the incident occurred, there were many addresses on the issue made to the public by the government. While the media tried to portray the government in a good light, if one were observant enough, it was clear that the government was at a loss to how best they could deal with this issue and calm the public down.

While Touma didn't think that Leivinia was doing all this for fun, his diagnosis of her mental state (psychosis, and signs of split personality disorder) seemed to suggest at that a subconscious level, she was a sadistic monster who secretly enjoys hurling fireball at innocent people. Then again, he was not a psychologist, so even he himself knew better not to give value to his own diagnosis.

"Anyway, do you really have to wear sunglasses wherever you go? It just makes you look silly." Touma said.

With all the media attention he was receiving for being the unfortunate victim, perhaps he should invest in a pair of sunglasses and a face mask... if he had money in the first place.

"You don't understand how a good pair of sunglasses goes a long way in attracting those hot chicks."

"And yet I don't see you with any one of them?"

"I'm still working on my pick up skills."

"Ah, I see."

A girl three tables away from Touma left her seat and walked up to him with a slight blush.

"Here's a small gift, I hope you are okay!"

Motoharu let out an annoyed sigh watching the girl moving back to her seat after leaving behind a small, red box.

"Another reason why I haven't got much luck with the girls is because of you, Kamijou Touma."

More and more girls started crowding around Touma's table, showering him with care and concern as the presents on his table piled up.

Sometimes Motoharu wondered if it was a good deal to be misfortunate in all other aspects of life except for getting girls. If it wasn't for Touma's apparent denseness towards any sign of affection from females, he would have created a huge harem by now. What a waste.

However, he could turn that paradise Touma was experiencing into a complete nightmare by exploiting how illogical girls can become when they are negatively affected by their emotions.

"Such misfortune indeed, Kamijou Touma. Sorry, but you can't just expect me to just watch and do nothing while you steal away all my targets."

Motoharu took out a photo and flung it towards the crowd of girls.

A pale Touma turned to face a smirking Motoharu as he prepared himself for the onslaught.

In the photo, there was a long, blonde haired girl with cute, doll-like features, and a chest much impressive than all the girls surrounding Touma giving him a kiss on the forehead while he was lying on the hospital bed asleep.

* * *

 **Part 3**

"I wonder if I could get to my house in peace" Touma muttered as he walked past the street bathed in a warm orange glow from the setting sun without a paparazzi mob ambushing him for an interview... yet.

According to the news that Touma read from the papers, the estimated collateral damage from the incident was 650 million yen with the death toll at 7 and the people injured at around 50.

Was it my fault again? If I didn't exist, maybe none of this would have happen?

Before Touma entered Academy City, he was a jinx who brought misfortune to everyone around him. Some say it was a coincidence, but many decided that it was all his fault.

Was it his fault that a businessman lost all his money in a financial crisis a few days after he shook his hand as a friendly gesture? Was it also his fault that a boy who crossed the road together with him died in a car accident hours later?

Now, was it his fault that he caused 7 people to die and countless more injured just because of that lunatic foreign girl?

Touma swallowed his anger as he continued walking.

Just when he thought he could finally live a normal life as a boy whose misfortune affects only him and no one else after moving into Academy City, this had to happen. Causing misfortune to people merely because of his existence.

"Hah, such misfortune indeed."

When he reached the lift lobby of his apartment building, something struck him as odd.

Why are there no paparazzi at all?

It was odd considering the media attention he was receiving this morning. It couldn't have disappeared in less than a day. Was the media in Academy City different from the media outside? Probably so. There are often many questions in life that cannot be answered, and many more not worth seeking the answer.

After taking the lift up to his apartment room, a girl standing outside holding a white cane gave him a bright smile.

"Is that Touma?"

It was the same girl in the photo which Motoharu threw at the crowd of girls. A long, blonde haired girl with cute, doll-like features, and a chest much, much impressive than all the girls surrounding Touma during class today.

Beside that girl was another girl with shoulder-length black hair dressed in a pink track suit who nodded. Her blank expression made her seem to be more like a oddly dressed robot than human. Does a robot need to exercise?

"Yes, it's him."

Touma had a mixture of emotions between shock and happiness and guilt on his face. He did not know how to react to her sudden, unexpected appearance. "Why are you here?!"

"It's been a long while since we met. I wanted to see if you're okay, and ma-"

"But you can't see! Wait..."

The blonde-haired girl's eyes were different from what he remembered. Her eyes were now red with her irises was replaced by golden stars.

She broke into a brilliant smile, accentuating the innocent beauty of her cute, doll-like features. "I still can't see perfectly, but I can at least see colors instead of black all the time! Maybe in another 10 years Academy City's technology would be so advanced that they can fully restore my sight. I can't wait to see how much you've grown."

"Leave."

It was all Touma's fault that his childhood friend Shokuhou Misaki ended up blind.

"Touma..."

"I said, leave! I don't want to see you ever again!"

She was the reason why Touma finally decided to move into Academy City alone and away from everyone else 8 years ago.

Misaki bit her lips, holding back tears. "At least you still are able to see me. I...I can't even see you. All I wanted was to be fri-"

8 years ago his misfortune caused her to lose his sight.

Touma clenched his right fist. Seeing Misaki almost bursting into tears felt like a incandescent blade stabbing right through his chest. So painful that even he was almost in tears.

"Shut up! I don't need a worthless friend who can't do anything on her own!"

Now, 8 years later, would his misfortune cause her to die instead?

That's why, it was better that they never meet again.

The expressionless robot-like girl with shoulder-length black hair took out two guns from her pockets. One facing Misaki, and one facing Touma.

Touma's heart almost stopped in utter horror.

That's... impossible? Is my misfortune really going to cause her to die? What's going on? First that crazy girl, now this?! It was too late to take back whatever he said about being pretty excited at how much more misfortunate he was going to be.

He sensed vibrations from his pocket and flipped open his phone.

It was a message from the girl standing in front of him. After seeing a lunatic foreign girl who could shoot fireballs, having the ability to send a message to his phone without a phone did not trouble him at all.

 _Her life, or your life. Choose._

Touma took out his phone.

It was an easy choice.

In fact, it was the only choice he had.

 _My life._

Perhaps in the past he had caused misfortune to this expressionless robot-like girl, and now she was here to exact revenge? There are often many questions in life that cannot be answered like this question, and sometimes, the answer doesn't really matter at all.

Touma closed his eyes.

Fine then. It's about time I paid for my sins anyway. Please be happy, Misaki.

"Don't just go ahead and die on your own. I haven't had enough fun with you yet, you retard." Leivinia said.

Touma's eyes snapped open to see Misaki horrified. The gun facing Misaki was now touching her temple.

"What's going on, Suzuki? Why are you pointing a gun at me?!" Misaki said.

Leivinia pointed her sword at the expressionless robot-like girl. "That girl is not even human. Listen up, Takitsubo Rikou. Only I can kill this boy, it's not up to you to decide."

"As arrogant as ever, Miss Birdway. However, I will not fail in my mission."

Rikou grabbed Misaki by the collar before jumping off the building with her. Without a moment of delay, Leivinia leaped off with a strong gust of wind, almost knocking Touma down. It was much weaker compared to the one during his first encounter with Leivinia.

Touma received another message.

 _Come to the railway track at District 18 if you still want her alive._

* * *

 **Part 4**

All of Touma's memories regarding his battle between Takitsubo Rikou and the lunatic foreigner Leivinia Birdway appeared to him as a disjointed, blurred, sped up movie.

He could only remember being surrounded by a green light. A green light that refused to disappear. Why did he get that feeling from that green light? Was his Imagine Breaker supposed to destroy that light, but failed? And why couldn't he remember anything?

"Where am I...? How did I end up here...?"

Touma found himself lying on a vast grassy plain. A stone castle occupying an area equivalent to the size of several football fields could be seen within walking distance.

"Leivinia Birdway?"

The girl staring at him with a slight frown was definitely the Leivinia Birdway he remembered hurling fireballs at him.

"Blimey! This Academian knows my name?" Leivinia said.

Instead of her white dress, Leivinia wore a white, pleated blouse with a grey skirt. Unlike the rest of the crowd behind her, she did not wear a black cloak. Otherwise, their outfit were mostly similar.

"What a tragedy for our top student Miss Birdway."

"I thought she would summon a huge dragon or at least a griffin?"

"I suppose an Academian is slightly better than a commoner, but what's with his weird clothing."

"That's the price to pay for being too arrogant."

Touma concluded from the crowd's noisy chattering that the crowd behind Leivinia were students, and the middle aged man in a black cloak holding a long, wooden staff was the teacher. Just like in that famous novel about wizards, the stone castle must be a school... and what the heck is an Academian?!

"I guess you have no choice but to continue with the ritual, Miss Birdway." The middle aged man in a black cloak holding a long, wooden staff said with a kind smile. "The fact that you managed to summon something proved that whatever you were thinking about had some value. "

Leivinia nodded. "Yes, you are right, Mr Colbert."

Touma could not summon enough strength to get up. Just what exactly happened before the green light summoned him into this strange world? Why is Leivinia here? Did the green light brought her into this world as well? Then why doesn't she seem to remember him?

I don't have a good feeling about this ritual... the question is how bad would it get?

Leivinia turned her flower shaped wand into a cup, and sprinkled water from the cup onto Touma's head.

"Done."

A burning sensation engulfed Touma, and he sprang up feeling like his whole body would just melt away in agony.

"Ju-Just what did you do to me?!"

Leivinia shrugged, "I just didn't want to kiss you, so I thought I'd use another... method instead."

"Complete your ritual properly! It's obvious that you were wrong if I'm in so much pain!"

"Well, it's not like I did the summoning ritual according to what was taught in the beginning so clearly you can't say that I'm obviously wrong if this were to happen. It's rather unfortunate that I am stuck with an Acadamian instead of a volcano dragon or something much more rare and powerful." Leivinia said.

A tanned, busty girl with deep crimson hair from the crowd looked at Leivinia with distaste. In spite of inflicting severe pain to an Academian, Leivinia's expression remained as cold and arrogant as ever.

"Tabitha, tell me why again do we have a monster like her in our class." The tanned, busty girl who was known as Kirche said.

A bespectacled blue, short haired girl pointed to a female student in their class with a staff taller than her.

"Worse."

Kirche let out a loud sigh as she folded her arms. "Maybe."

She knew how cruel nobles can get when it comes to disciplining the commoners. That particular girl Tabitha pointed at had a history of whipping maids as punishment, until the monster Leivinia wrecked her room by unleashing a tornado while putting a sword at her throat. Who was the monster here? Leivinia or that maid whipping classmate? Tabitha went for the latter while Kirche went for the former.

Touma dropped to his knees, his fists clutching the soil on the ground. The searing pain grew more and more intense by the second. If this were to continue, he might just die here in an unknown world filled with so many questions.

He couldn't die here.

Touma didn't understand why, but in the face of impending death, he found himself unable to accept his fate.

"Sorry, but I still want to live. God, if you think this is the end of my misfortunate life, then let my Imagine Breaker prove you wrong!"

A loud, unnatural sound of glass shattering reverberated through the air as Touma fell face down unconscious.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

The Academy City in this story has no espers, but remains technologically advanced. It's just that it's not an important part of the story at this stage, so I didn't develop it as much.

Now the most important question. How did Touma enter the summoning portal even though he has Imagine Breaker?!

He didn't instantly negate the summoning portal, that's all. Just like how in Vol 1 his Imagine Breaker could not completely negate Dragon's Breath. The portal is just that powerful. There's also a reason why Touma doesn't remember anything at the abandoned railway track... but I'm not going to spoil anything. I don't know if you can see it, but Touma was summoned into a time where Leivinia had not met him at all, while the Leivinia who appeared in Academy City already knew him. Here's a clue, there's a reason why this I gave this prologue that title.

Basically, this is just a story where Touma becomes Leivinia's familiar instead of Touma being Louise's familiar, and how different things would end up. So in that sense it's a fic that caters more to the To Aru readers since Louise isn't the main character. If most of the readers reading my story don't know much about the To Aru world, then Leivinia Birdway can be pretty much considered as an OC. I hope I can do a good job writing an OC, and if I'm doing bad, please help by leaving comments!

Eventually you'll see that its rather inspired by one of the other fics already posted in this crossover section. I see this fic as a different take of that fic.

Apologies for being so inactive. I was busy :(

This story idea was bugging me so much that I just decided to just slowly write at least the first chapter and... I'm done.

Haven't been writing for a long time so I hope the quality is still okay. The story might be a little confusing so if you have any questions do ask me :)

Also, if you liked the story, do leave a review in the review box below.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter 1: Beginning**_

* * *

 **Part 1**

 _Why do you still want to live?_

Touma found himself in a completely black space. So completely black that if he were to walk straight, he couldn't tell if he actually moved a step forward from where he stood because there was no reference point.

Did he ended up dead anyway because of Leivinia after she splashed him with water through her magical cup? If so, was this hell? A quiet, lonely place for sinners like him to reflect upon their sins for eternity in peace?

 _Is there any point in living?_

The voice that reverberated through this space sounded like Misaki, but it couldn't be her... unless...

"Are you dead as well, Misaki?" Touma said.

 _I am not Misaki..._

"Then who are you?"

 _...and you are not dead yet._

* * *

 **Part 2**

Touma's eyes snapped open, and thrust out his right hand to negate an incoming fireball from Leivinia sitting at a desk away from the bed he was lying at.

"Do you even realize how dangerous was that?! You could have killed me if I wasn't fast enough! Do you really hate me that much?"

The shock from Leivinia's fireball destroyed whatever little Touma remembered from his odd dream and the voice that sounded like Misaki.

Leivinia folded her arms, "You're better off dead if you can't even handle this. I certainly don't expect my familiar to be weak even if you're just a special Academian."

They were both in a bedroom with a wardrobe, a dressing table, a study desk where books were neatly arranged in stacks and one bed which Touma was lying on. However, the antiquated design of each furniture in the room gave off a medieval aura set in the 1500s.

"Why did you send me here?! What happened back at the railway?!" Touma said, agitated from being both confused and shocked at his situation.

Leivinia grabbed a book from her desk and flipped through pages with a perplexed look. "Railway...? What is this railway you speak of?"

Academians were sometimes known for uttering words that made no sense to a noble like her.

It was 6000 years ago when this world was known as Academia instead of the current world now known as Halkegenia.

According to history, a huge war among all the countries in Academia involving nuclear weapons wiped almost everyone in the world. Till now, Leivinia couldn't figure out what nuclear actually meant, but it must be something of extreme destructive power. One of the survivors named Brimir rallied the rest who were still alive and founded Halkegenia.

Today, the founder Brimir is being worshipped as a god by almost everyone except for Academians.

"... Do you even remember how you decided to shoot fireballs at me because it was fun?" Touma said.

Leivinia's nonchalant attitude in response to his outburst oddly calmed him down, but a nagging worry about surviving inside this new world... or surviving Leivinia's attacks persisted. She must have remembered nothing if she was that confused by his question.

"I believe this is the first time we've met, familiar. But how did you know my name?"

Touma rubbed his head, pretending to be in pain from a headache. "You... looked like someone that I know with the same name, that's all. About you shooting fireballs at me for fun and the incident at the railway... that must be just a dream so vivid I thought it was real."

Perhaps the answers would come to him in time if he were to spend more time in this new world. If she remembers nothing then she would definitely deny everything he said, so there was no point in continuing. Might as well resolve this confusion with a small lie.

Leivinia nodded, "I see."

"By the way, where am I?"

"Tristian."

"Huh? Am I still in Earth?"

From what Touma observed when he ended up here, he already concluded that he most likely ended up in a different world he lived in. No human in his world could change a wand into a cup without any sleight of hand, and also everybody seemed to be acting like this was a natural occurrence to them.

Only a boy named Kamijou Touma could be that misfortunate.

It was like his misfortune refused to be outdone by his own expectation of what bad luck was about to come.

Leivinia stopped at a page from her book with a smug face. She finally understood a strange word that an Academian had uttered. "Earth? Is that the name of the world you live in? According to this book, Earth was rendered inhospitable and so, a strange Academian technology was used to move everyone into a new world, which is the world we live in now."

So Earth was destroyed by global warming and pollution after all. Touma thought. So he was in a future where selfish humans finally destroyed Earth but managed to find an alternate planet similar to Earth? The strange Academian technology Leivinia mentioned must be referring to space travel far more advanced than the era he lived in.

"Speaking of which... what the heck is an Academian? I'm Japanese in case you don't know that. Wait... if you understand me, and I understand you, doesn't that make you Japanese as well?"

When Touma first found himself in this world, he overheard someone referring to him as an Academian. Just a while ago, Leivinia also referred to him as a special Academian. It felt like it was something he needed to know to first understand his place in this new world.

"Japanese? I beg your pardon? All of us, regardless of nobles and commoners, speak the same language as established by the founder Birmir. Academians are considered as commoners because many nobles prefer to just think of them as commoners with a different kind of face."

Leivinia let out a deep sigh. The gap between her and her familiar was too great. Even her strange book documenting the history and some terms commonly used in Academia was not as helpful as she thought it would be.

"Never mind, familiar. There are more important things you should know, but first..."

Touma twisted his body 180 degrees to negate a fire arrow behind him, and fell off the bed with a loud thud.

"What was that for again?! Didn't I tell you how dangerous it was just now!"

Leivinia smirked, "This is a dangerous world, familiar. You'll... realize that in time to come."

"I've already realized how dangerous my world is when you're around!"

Touma made his way to the door. If he stayed any second longer with this monster, his life might just be taken away from him in that next instant.

"Are you really leaving?" Leivinia said.

"Isn't that obvious?"

"I wasn't joking when I said this is a dangerous world, familiar."

Touma froze. He found it impossible to ignore the intensity of Leivinia's tone. If he were to ignore her, Touma might just end up being crushed together with the room he was in when Leivinia unleashes her full power in anger.

"Also, do you understand the meaning of the word familiar? Since you are human, a familiar in this context would mean servant. As a servant, you are expected to obey any orders from the noble who owns you, which is yours truly. Thankfully you are not as useless in combat as I thought an ordinary Academian would be. You have a... rather special right hand."

His right hand was so special that Leivinia failed to complete the summoning ritual because the inscribed runes signifying the bond between a familiar and its master would always appear on his right hand no matter what method she used and disappear soon after with a strange noise.

Therefore, this boy was not her familiar, but Leivinia felt she should be a little responsible for dragging him from his world into another world by taking care of him as her familiar had she not insisted on doing the summoning ritual her way.

Leivinia took out a thick blanket from her wardrobe and hurled it towards the ground near her bed.

"I promise I won't assault you in your sleep."

Touma narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

"I don't gain anything from killing you, so just go to sleep already."

She went over to her bed, annoyed. Once in bed, she pulled over her blanket in one swift motion and shut her eyes.

Touma picked up the thick blanket she offered. Even when sleeping, Leivinia's expression was slightly tensed. No doubt if he tried to attack Leivinia in her sleep, most likely she would have him pinned down to the ground with one hundred fireballs raining down on him.

"Familiar huh..."

He did not understand what exactly Leivinia meant by familiar. From what little she mentioned, he was a slave and this foreign girl with shoulder-length, blonde hair and blue eyes named Leivinia Birdway was his master who summoned him into this world.

"I still have value to her... she's right."

He was a slave with a special power in his right hand named Imagine Breaker according to that 'Leivinia' who appeared in his world, and this Leivinia sleeping on the bed beside him must have realized that as well.

There was no value in killing him. He could prove to be useful with that right hand of his. The world beyond this stone castle was just as unsafe as being with Leivinia anyway.

Touma let out a sigh as he glanced at the night sky from the window. A red, crimson moon and a smaller pale, blue moon beside each other showed him how different this world and his world was.

"Such misfortune. Maybe I should have asked if she knew a way back into my world."

Perhaps he was sick of asking questions he already knew the answers to. No way a misfortunate boy like him could ever be offered with such a miraculous way out.

With that, Touma closed his eyes with his body lying on the thick blanket spread on the ground.

* * *

 **Part 3**

A stabbing pain woke Touma up from his deep slumber to a displeased Leivinia with her foot planted on his stomach.

"Good morning, you lazy familiar." Leivinia said.

Touma groaned as he got up. "I have a name you know... and you promised you wouldn't assault me in my sleep!"

"I lied. Now be quiet and follow me. As a familiar, the bare minimum you should be doing is to follow me around."

"Yes, yes master. Shall I even open the door for you on the way out?" Touma said.

"You learn fast, familiar."

"Wait what?!"

Was being Leivinia's familiar really meant that he was the slave while Leivinia was his master? Touma wondered if he should start putting his pride away for now while he continued to gather more information about this world.

Leivinia opened the door and beckoned Touma to follow. "However, I am different from the snobbish lazy brats you see everywhere in this academy. I can open the door myself, thank you very much. We shall have breakfast before heading to classes."

Walking through the corridor, students could be seen coming out from the wooden doors by the side as they made their way to breakfast as well. Except for Leivinia, all of them were wearing capes of different colors.

"By the way, is there a spell that could bring me back into my world?" Touma said. At least he had to ask even if the answer is obvious. Maybe he was not as misfortunate as he th-

"No. That is why you should start becoming more stronger, familiar. I'd love you send you back so that I can summon something else much more useful than a mere commoner like you, but it's just my rotten luck that I'm stuck with you."

Yup, he was that misfortunate. So misfortunate that he ended up in a strange, new world without knowing how and why, and with no clear way of escaping.

"Don't make it sound like you're the one suffering here. I was looking forward to a nice gaming session after a simple dinner before you dragged me into this ancient world without any modern technology."

"Really? And I was looking forward to a powerful dragon who could aid me in battle, not a silly, frail human whose only value lies in his strange right hand."

It was very strange indeed. A right hand that could negate magic? What a heretical, but an interesting and very strange ability.

"Hey, aren't you that Academian which Leivinia summoned? You're still alive?" A tanned, busty girl with deep crimson hair called out with a playful grin. A red reptile resembling a salamander about the size of adult dog stood beside her.

After he fainted at the grassy plain yesterday, water mages tried to wake him up but he remained unconscious. Fortunately, he was still breathing and had a pulse. Unfortunately, no levitation spell would work on him, so it was up to that monster Leivinia who dragged him back to her room by pulling on his right leg like a broken rag doll.

Touma smiled. Even though the girl was friendly... and extremely attractive, the weird lizard like creature beside her made him wary about his safety. "Um, hi."

"My name is Kirche Von Zerbst. You can call me Kirche. What's yours?"

"I'm Ka-"

Leivinia gave a swift kick to Touma's knee, causing him to fall over in pain.

"What was that for again?!" Touma said. Why was she always so violent? While she always seem to have a reason to be violent, it wouldn't hurt to use a less violent method to achieve the same outcome.

"Let us be on our way, familiar."

"What are you so afraid of Leivinia? It's not like rules ever applies to you anyway. I'm sure you'll be fine protecting your familiar." Kirche said.

Leivinia's annoyed glare against Kirche's sly smirk suggested that there was a very good reason why Leivinia kicked his knee to stop him from saying his name. Was it forbidden in this place to say his name? Why?

Without saying a word, Leivinia walked away briskly towards the staircase with Touma keeping up with her pace.

"What's wrong?" Touma said.

Leivinia remained silent as she passed through another corridor. Maybe he would ask her again when she's in a better mood after breakfast.

* * *

 **Part 4**

Touma gasped in amazement at the sheer size of the dining hall.

There were only three tables inside, but each table was so wide and long that it could fit at least a hundred people. Not only that, the dishwares on the table were so clean that Touma could see a vague reflection of himself in it.

The designs on each and every item placed inside were each like a piece of art to Touma. Whether be it the plates, platters, or chairs, all of them were embossed with designs most likely be seen as ostentatious if this was his world.

According to Leivinia, a commoner like him would never be allowed to step foot inside such a place.

"... However, I have specially requested for you to be allowed inside as my familiar. Be grateful, familiar." Leivinia said.

"Yes, yes master. How very kind of you." Touma sighed as he took a seat beside Leivinia.

To humor Leivinia, he decided to call her as master instead of her name. The least he could do is to help her retain some pride of being a noble, though a noble who prefers violence as her first choice.

"What is the meaning of this?" A long, curly blonde haired girl said. "Those seats are only for nobles! Not that filthy commoner you summoned because you were too arrogant!"

"Do you honestly think I'd feed my familiar with stale bread and plain water through a small bowl while he sits on the floor crying about how his mother should have never given birth to him?" Leivinia said. "Ah yes, perhaps you should be put on a leash and be fed through a bowl, Miss Montmorency. You look more like a retarded blonde orc than a noble to me."

"Why you..." Montmorency bit her lips in anger. "He's a fucking commoner! He should be grateful if we even bother to feed him! Don't push your luck Birdway! You can't always have your way here!"

Those eyes. Touma remembered those eyes from that angry long, curly blonde haired girl . He saw those eyes from many people during his past as a jinx. As more and more people in the dining hall turned towards them, Touma saw more and more of such eyes.

 _You filth. Disgusting pest. You're better off dead!_

Why were they looking at him like that? Just because he was of a lower status than them? Just what exactly was going on in this world?

Leivinia flashed a sword from transforming her wand aimed for Montmorency's throat.

"He's my familiar, not yours. If you want to prove you're the superior one here, then take out your wand and prove it, noble."

Touma stood up. No way he could remain here without being the catalyst for the war between Leivinia and Montmorency. "Let's not get so worked up over here. I'll... settle my breakfast outside."

Without waiting for Leivinia's answer, he left the dining hall as fast as he could before the both ended up destroying the dining hall to prove who was the stronger one here.

* * *

 **Part 5**

Touma's stomach growled in protest as he found himself walking up and down staircases, and through corridors that looked the same to him regardless of which level he was at.

"I think I'll die of hunger first before finding the kitchen."

There must be a place where all those sumptuous food he saw at the dining halls were cooked. Unless... they were magically conjured from wands? Magic can't be that convenient, right?

"Excuse me!"

Touma turned around to see a maid with short, black hair dressed in a frilly uniform similar to those he saw at maid cafes in Academy City. Unlike the rest, she looked Japanese, which meant that she was probably an Academian like him.

"You must be Leivinia's familiar, aren't you?"

"You are...?"

The maid smiled warmly as she gave a small bow. "My name is Siesta. It's a pleasure to meet you. Miss Birdway has ordered me to bring you into the kitchen where you can have your breakfast. Please follow me to the kitchen."

* * *

 **Part 6**

Touma gulped down a warm bowl of chicken soup prepared by the maid Siesta.

"Actually, where exactly am I? I know I'm in Tristian, but that sounds more like the name of the country which the castle is at than the name of the castle."

"Oh, Miss Birdway didn't tell you anything about this place?"

"Let's just say we ended up talking about some other things that I forgot to ask her about it."

"I see." Siesta nodded. "I shall explain on behalf on Miss Birdway then."

This place was Tristain's Academy Of Magic, where people learn about magic. Since nobles were the only ones who could wield magic, the only students here were nobles. That would explain why the dining hall was a place 'fit for nobles'. Only nobles uses the dining hall, and commoners like Siesta who works here as a servant would eat in an area designated for them.

"... Because nobles are the only one who can use magic, we commoners, especially Academians like me... never mind." Siesta looked away with a hint of sadness in her face.

"What's wrong?"

Siesta regained her smile, erasing any sadness she might have shown just now.

"I'm sorry, I just got carried away."

"Is it something regarding names? When I tried to introduce myself this morning to another noble, my violent master kicked me in the knee to stop me from doing so."

Would he end up being sentenced to death if he were to utter his name? There was still a lot Touma didn't understand about this world.

"Are you an Academian as well?"

"Actually, I have no idea. I was dragged here from another world after all."

Siesta looked at him confused. "Another world?"

"Earth. I heard it got destroyed though."

Technically, he also traveled into the distant future as well as being sent into a different world. Funny how backwards the future was. Touma expected an advanced civilization where androids and computers were all around him, but they probably became so advanced that they ended up destroying themselves like Academia.

Siesta's confused expression soon turned into excitement.

"Are you really from Earth?! The land where the miraculous being known as the Internet lives? Do you happen to know anything about it? I have heard great things about what this miraculous being could do! It has the power to change a person into anyone they wanted to. It also has the power to give someone wealth and land. Of course those are stories passed down from generations to generations, but how true is it? Does the Internet really has such a power?"

"Well... the Internet can turn you into another person through Facebook or Twitter if you use Photoshop to edit your photos, but in reality you still have the same face. You could also earn money through the Internet if you know how to..."

Touma stopped when he saw how confused Siesta was trying to understand what he just said.

"Sorry, was it too confusing for you?" Touma said.

Siesta let out a slight chuckle. "I'm sorry I couldn't understand anything you've said. I'm just an uneducated country girl so I don't know much, but I've heard of the word photo. I believe you use this thing called a camera to create a photo, but I have no idea how to use it. There are rumors that the Electric Princess has one though!"

"Electric Princess? Is she an Academian as well?"

"She's a special Academian, and a hero." Siesta's cheerful disposition faltered into one of sadness, although she tried to remain as cheerful as before. "Without people like her, us Academians would have been completely stripped of our rights as a human being. If you're Miss Birdway's familiar, you must be a special Academian, aren't you?"

Touma's gaze fell onto his right hand. "I do have a special ability in my right hand though."

"That's why Miss Birdway stopped you from uttering your name. Special Academians are considered heretics because they use magic different from the nobles. According to Tristain's law, they are to be arrested and handed over to the court for a trial, but killing them on sight is not illegal as well."

"Seriously?"

No wonder Leivinia was so affected by her encounter with Kirche. She was trying to protect him. Was the reason why Leivinia remained silent because she didn't want to admit this?

"By the way, what's an example of an Academian's name? I might be named differently from them."

Siesta's voice dropped into a whisper, "Names like Kanzaki Kaori, Kakine Teitoku or Kamisato Kakeru. Does your name sound similar to those name?"

Touma's face turned pale. If it wasn't for Leivinia, he would have been arrested and handed over to the court for a trial.

"Yeah... something like that."

Those were clearly Japanese names. Just what was exactly going on between Academians and the nobles here? Was this just like a witch hunt where the nobles would capture Academian heretics, and accuse innocent Academian who were clearly powerless as heretics so that they would have an excuse to do whatever they want to Academians?

"Did you abandon your Academian name so that you can't be accused as a heretic?" Touma said.

"Yes... As the special Academians does it as well to prevent themselves from being caught, it really doesn't help much. However, we Academians who work here are safe because we have been proven by the school to be ordinary, powerless Academia-"

A cough from the door interrupted Siesta.

It was Leivinia Birdway with her arms crossed.

"It's time for classes, familiar."

* * *

 **Part 7**

The lecture halls in this magic academy was strikingly similar to many university's lecture hall in Touma's world. The teacher would be at the most bottom level while rows of seats were arranged in an ascending order like a sloping hill.

The difference was that instead of a large screen where slides would be played from a computer, a blackboard took its place.

Enduring the disdainful glares of many students, Touma took a seat beside Leivinia.

The tanned, busty girl with crimson girl who introduced herself as Kirche shot him a warm smile as she left a group of boys behind to join a bespectacled girl with blue hair, but soon turned into a scowl as soon as she saw Leivinia.

What made him more uneasy were the strange creatures around those students such a floating eyeball, and a lizard with eight legs and a horn. At least the owl perched on one of the student's shoulder were normal enough for him to accept.

According to Leivinia, those creatures were familiars like him. Unlike him, they were able to give their master some sort of an enchantment, such as being able to see and hear what the familiar sees and hear as well. Other than that, they are also able to find catalysts needed for certain spells such as sulfur, or moss. Most importantly, they were able to protect their master from harm.

In Touma's case, the master was the one protecting the useless familiar who seemed to be of no use to its master other than the strange ability in his right hand.

"Maybe I could sit on the floor... it's a little squeezy but I can deal with it." Touma said.

"Ignore those lazy snobbish brats will you? As my familiar, and as a person, you have every right to sit on that table just like anyone else." Leivinia said.

"Anyway, thanks."

Touma smiled in an attempt to be friendly, but Leivinia didn't seem interested in returning the smile.

"What for?"

"Siesta told me a couple of things about this world. If you hadn't stopped me, something bad might have happened to me."

"... Just don't be a bloody retard and get yourself into unnecessary trouble."

Leivinia fell into silence again. It seemed that she didn't want to directly admit that she was protecting him.

The door opened, and a teacher entered.

She was a middle-aged woman dressed in a voluminous purple robe wearing a pointed hat. She had a plump, round face with a friendly expression like a kind grandmother would have.

The woman gazed around the classroom and spoke with a satisfied smile.

"Well, everyone, it seems that the Springtime Familiar Summoning was a great success. I, Chevreuse, always enjoy seeing the new familiars that are summoned each spring..."

Her gaze stopped at Leivinia, who smiled back a little at the woman out of respect.

"My, my. You've summoned quite a... peculiar familiar, Miss Birdway. I heard this was the result of you attempting something different in the Summoning Ritual. I hope your familiar will prove useful in your future endeavors."

Leivinia had always been different from the rest. Her refusal in wearing the cape meant to differentiate between the first, second and third year students in the academy was one of them.

If it wasn't for Leivinia's status as an Albion royalty instead of a Tristian noble, such a request would be impossible. At least she respected the Summoning Ritual enough not to redo the ritual again.

"Thank you, Professor Chevreuse."

Chevreuse nodded before continuing with her lesson. "My Runic name is 'Red Clay.' Chevreuse the Red Clay. This year, I will be teaching you all the magic of the Earth element. Do you know the four great elements of magic, Mister Malicorne?"

A plump, blond haired boy stood up. "Y-Yes, Professor Chevreuse. They are Fire, Water, Earth and Wind."

"And combined with the lost fifth element known as Void," Chevreuse said, "There are five elements in total - as everyone should already know. However, while little is known about this element, you are still required to study it as part of your General Magic Knowledge test.

Of the five elements, I believe Earth holds an extremely important position. This isn't just because my affinity is Earth, nor is it simply a personal preference.

The magic of Earth is very important magic that governs the creation of all matter. If it wasn't for Earth magic, we wouldn't be able to produce or process necessary metals. Raising buildings from large boulders and harvesting crops would also involve much more work. In this manner, the magic of the Earth element is intimately related to everyone's life."

After the destruction of Academia, magic took the place of science. As their magic was restricted to manipulating the four elements, Touma realized that their magic was never going to be able to conjure food out of nowhere. Maybe Void would be the breakthrough in solving world hunger... if there was one in this world.

"Now, everyone, please recall that the basic magic of the Earth element is 'transmutation'. While there will be people here who have already learned this in their first year, basics build foundations, so let's review it once more."

Chevreuse turned her attention to the pebbles placed on a table beside her and twirled her wand over them.

She then whispered a spell, and they began to glow brightly.

When the light dimmed away, the pebbles had been changed into sparkling lumps of metal.

Kirche leaned forward over her desk. "Is that g-g-gold, Professor Chevreuse!?"

"No, it isn't. It's plain brass. Only Square-class mages are able to transmute to gold. I'm just... a Triangle mage. Speaking of which..." Chevreuse pointed her wand towards Leivinia with a smile, "May I have the honor of you transmuting this pebble into gold?"

Kirche raised her voice in concern.

"Umm..."

"Yes?" Chevreuse said.

"I think it would be better if you didn't let her..."

"And why is that?"

"It's dangerous!" Kirche said. The majority of the class nodded in agreement.

"Dangerous? How so? I heard she's a Square class mage, I'm sure she'll do great."

Leivinia stood up and walked up to the front of the room with a satisfied smirk on her face. "Thank you for your compliment. I will do my best."

Their disdainful glare from before turned into fear. It pleased Leivinia to know that even if they wanted to, they could not escape. It would be disgraceful as nobles to be running away from a demonstration. Those cowards.

Leivinia muttered a spell before tapping her wand on the pebble, and a large explosion shook the classroom.

With a shrug, Leivinia dropped the sparkling gold pebble onto an unconscious Chevreuse, still alive judging from her occasional twitching.

Touma stared in shock at how nonchalant Leivinia seemed to be among the pandemonium where startled familiars were flying, waddling or slithering about and students groaning in pain from the impact.

It was now clear to Touma that Leivinia hated those nobles despite being a noble herself, and he did not blame her. But Kirche proved that not all nobles were like that, always looking down on people just because of their status.

Just like Misaki.

A girl who accepted him as a person even if the world hated him as a jinx.

"Who ever said making gold was easy. Follow me familiar, I have a job for you do." Leivinia said.

Even though Leivinia had questionable personality traits, she was just like the both of them.

Decent people who still existed in this world.

* * *

 **Part 8**

The bright afternoon sky in the garden reflected how great was Siesta's day so far.

As a reward for feeding Leivinia's familiar, Leivinia had given her an expensive looking perfume bottle which glowed bright purple even during the day. If she were to sell it on the market, her family would no longer have to worry about food for the next couple of months!

Many nobles were seated there for a tea break in between classes.

"Hey you! Refill this cup of tea for me." A noble shouted from a distance.

Siesta rushed over, picked up the exquisite teapot almost as expensive as the perfume bottle Leivinia rewarded her on the table with a smile and poured him a steaming cup of tea.

Normally, it took her some effort to remain smiling as she served tea to the nobles. Couldn't they just pour some tea for themselves? The teapot was within an arm's reach anyway.

Today was a different day. Just thinking about how the money would bring happiness to her family was worth all the pain and frustration.

"You seem really happy today."

Siesta turned behind to see Touma holding a tray like her as well.

"Why are you here as well?!"

"I'm supposed to be here to help you in return since you gave me food."

Touma was soon getting used to the disdainful glares from the nobles as he served cake and helped nobles refill their tea. Apparently, almost the whole school knows that he was Leivinia's familiar, and the fact that he was an Academian wasn't helping at all.

Siesta's face went red as she found herself at a loss for words. "Th-There's really no need to! Miss Birdway is too kind! She even gave me a bottle of perfume as a re-"

A sudden gale knocked Siesta down forcefully and her treasured perfume bottle fell out from her pocket.

Just when Siesta was about to retrieve her treasure, Montmorency waved her wand and fired a liquid bomb made from hot tea towards Siesta, who reeled back in pain.

"Why do you have this in your possession? Answer me, you slut."

Not satisfied with one liquid bomb, she fired another one towards her face. That should teach her a lesson.

Touma hurled his tray, deflecting the liquid bomb away from Siesta. A few pieces of cake that was on the tray fell upon Montmorency's white blouse and cape.

"I'm sure there must be a misunderstanding somewhere... and sorry about that." Touma let out an awkward chuckle as he felt Montmorency's glare threatening to cook him in a pot of hot water.

Montmorency trembled in anger. She had never been humiliated in front of so many people by a mere commoner like him before. "Just because yo-you're Leivinia's familiar does not mean you're above the law like her! This slut over here has a perfume that I've specially concocted for my dearest Guiche."

A blonde haired boy who gave off a strong flamboyant aura with a button or two unbuttoned from his uniform and a rose stuck in his shirt pocket ran over with a tired look on his face. This morning, he just managed to convince his girlfriend Montmorency that no, he wasn't hitting on the first year student named Katie. What could be the matter now?

That look turned into horror as he saw the bottle of perfume on the grass. How did this end up with the maid over there?! He was sure that he gave it to his friend without anyone realizing it during his time with Katie last night when he forgot to keep it in his room.

"Guiche!" Montmorency said. "So it wasn't that first year student, but this disgusting maid over here?!"

"Calm down, my dear." Guiche smiled. "It hurts me to see such a beautiful face twisted into anger. Th-That maid must have stolen it from me to sell it on the market!" Guiche said.

"It was a gift from Miss Birdw-"

"Enough." Montmorency said, cutting Siesta off. The maid was now an eyesore to her. Just thinking about how this maid might have made attempts towards her dearest Guiche made her sick. Finding a replacement was easy. Being a servant in this school was a highly coveted position after all. "We do not tolerate stealing here. I shall report this to the headmaster and have you replaced."

Tears fell from Siesta's eyes as she bowed profusely. "Please don't fire me! I still have a family to feed! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'd do anything if it makes you happy, so please don't fire me!"

How did a perfect day like this fell apart in an instant?

If only she had the time to keep it somewhere safe... if only Leivinia had not insisted that she accept her gift.

Not being a maid in this academy would mean one less income to feed the family, and her own safety because no one, not even the Queen is able to accuse her as a heretic as long as she worked here because the academy has already cleared her.

"By the way, how are you going to take responsibility for ruining my Montmorency's clothes, you filthy commoner." Guiche said. "I, Guiche De Gramont, hereby challenge you to a duel."

It was his chance to impress Montmorency, and to humiliate Leivinia, who Montmorency hated with a fiery passion, by destroying her familiar in combat.

Touma smiled. He found a chance to save Siesta from this trouble.

"If I win, you'll let the matter go. But if I los-"

Guiche cut Touma off with a wave of his rose, "Fine. The duel shall be held at Vestri Court. If you don't know where it is, ask that thieving maid to bring you there."

The crowd soon dispersed as they made their way to Vestri Court while discussing about who would emerge as the victor. Leivinia's familiar was just a commoner, but a familiar of the monster Leivinia Birdway might not be as weak as he seemed.

Siesta wiped the tears off her face, looking away as she could not find the courage to face Touma. It was her fault that Touma got dragged into this.

"Why did you accept his duel...? Even though you had to do was apologize... You'll die... If you take him on as a human, you'll die. If you take him on using your ability, you'll be charged in court and be sentenced to death as a heretic!"

Touma sighed. "Where is this Vestri Court?"

"Are you even listening to me?!"

Siesta found herself crying again as her eyes met Touma. Why was this boy so nonchalant in the face of impending death? He was no hero unlike the Electric Princess!

Touma held out his pinky finger. " I promise I won't die. I am Leivinia's familiar after all. She'll find a way to save me I suppose. In any case, I can't possibly run away from that duel and tarnish Leivinia's name as a noble."

Siesta nodded. No amount of crying was going to change anything. While she wasn't worth risking his life for, there was no other way out of this anymore.

"I'll bring you there."

* * *

 **Part 9**

Vestri Court was a large patch of grass located between two castle towers as high as an apartment building back in Touma's world. Apparently it was supposed to be a garden according to Siesta, but Touma could not see any flowers around. It was a very peculiar garden.

"Gentleman!" Guiche waved his rose as he greeted the crowd around him and Touma. "It's a duel."

The crowd cheered in response.

"Go get him Guiche!"

"Teach this filthy commoner what it means to face a noble!"

"Make sure he cries for mercy!"

Touma took a deep breath as he observed his opponent Guiche, who continued pandering to the crowd with his theatrical acts. Could he really defeat Guiche without using his right hand? If Guiche was as powerful as Leivinia, perhaps he didn't have much a choice.

Guiche twirled his rose. "First of all, I commend you for coming here instead of running away."

A petal dropped onto the ground, and a bronze female-shaped golem wielding a sword emerged. It was about the same height as Touma, and its metallic body gleamed under the sunlight.

"I am a mage and my Runic name is 'the Bronze.' Guiche the Bronze. Therefore, my bronze golem "Valkyrie" shall be your real opponent."Guiche said.

"And if I defeat this golem, I win?" Touma said.

"If you are able to in the first place, commoner."

Even if this Academian commoner was a special Academian, most of them were about as powerful as a commoner wielding a makeshift weapon, and his family was used to dealing with pests like them.

The golem sprinted towards Touma.

Touma remained in his position as he watched the golem approaching him. It was fast, but only about as fast as a normal human being.

The golem swung his blade towards Touma.

He grabbed the blade with his right hand, and it shattered into nothing. Next, Touma threw his right fist straight at the golem's chest. Similar to the blade, it crumbled into earth before reverting back into a single petal.

"I guess I've won?" Touma said.

Those eyes from the crowd filled with contempt turned into shock and fear. How did this commoner destroy Guiche's golem just by touching it with his right hand?! They were wrong to betitile Leivinia's familiar. He was a monster just like Leivinia.

"Let's see how you deal with six!" Guiche said.

Disgusted at how Touma easily dealt with the golem, Guiche waved his rose and summoned six more golems, all of them wielding a sword.

Each of the six golem charged at Touma from different directions.

Although his right hand could destroy his golems, but he only had one right hand. Guiche smirked at how he was about to destroy this monster by exploiting his weakness.

The golems were fast, but only about as fast as a normal human being. Summoning six more golems did not change this fact. Six golems charging at him from different directions was about the same as six angry person ambushing Touma when he was younger to kill him. The difference was that Touma could fight the golems head on with this right hand instead of running away.

"Eh? Aren't you suppose to declare me the victor?!" Touma said.

Are nobles the sort of person who plays dirty in a soccer game when losing? How was he going to win now? Would a few punches to Guiche's face while having him pinned down grant him the win?

He hurled his right fist against an overhead swing of the blade from a golem straight ahead, shattering it like glass into nothing, before punching the golem's chest.

There were five more golems charging straight at him, but Touma did not move from his position again.

On one hand, it would be idiotic to be standing there and let the golems crush him. On the other hand, it was too idiotic that there must be a reason why.

Touma leaped forth through an opening in the golem's formation and did two consecutive flips just as the golems charging from all the remaining directions converged into a single point where Touma was seconds ago and destroyed themselves with a resounding clank.

The crowd started jeering. Not even six golems could crush a single special Academian who merely demonstrated his athletic prowess coupled a special right hand who could destroy a golem just by touching it.

"You should start changing your runic name to 'the Rust'!"

"Come on! You can do better!"

"You suck, Guiche!"

Guiche summoned three more golems with a wave of his rose. This time he would crush this special Academian. He would not allow himself to be embarrassed anymore. That special Academian was just lucky that he leaped to safety just when it was no longer possible for his golems to change direction.

Three fire pillars erupted from the ground. In a flash, the golems melted into a mass of twisted, black metal before turning back into earth.

"The duel ended the moment my familiar destroyed your first golem, Mr Guiche."

It was Leivinia Birdway with her flower-shaped wand.

"If you persist in cheating, then your next opponent shall be me. Miss Montmorency, do you require a bowl and a leash for your precious little pet puppy Mr Guiche over there? He certainly needs to be taught a lesson about integrity and I believe those would be of great help to you."

Montmorency's face went red in shame as she left the crowd hastily.

Levinia's flower shaped wand turned into a sword. "As for you Mr Guiche, declare my familiar the winner or I will declare you the loser."

Guiche gulped, "I... I yield!"

He was just a dot class mage, and Leivinia was a square class mage. The difference in ability was too great for him to defend his honor as a noble.

It surprised Leivinia to see a teary Siesta rushing over towards Touma, but it didn't matter.

There were so many things that could have went wrong, but at least her small plan to humiliate Montmorency and Guiche ended up as a success.

* * *

 **Part 9**

A middle aged man in a black cloak holding a long, wooden staff stood inside a large office with shelves filled with books placed by the side, facing a old, wizened man sitting on an elegantly designed wooden desk. He was in the Headmaster's Office located at the most top floor of the stone castle.

Jean Colbert, or Mr Colbert as what his students would call him, frowned.

The both were in an intense discussion about Leivinia's familiar and his duel with Guiche. Whether this duel was legal or not was no longer the issue.

"If this Academian is truly a heretic, then we're obliged to report this to the Royal Court Of Tristian." Colbert said.

The old, wizened man known as Headmaster Osmond took a puff from his dark brown smoking pipe, "However... we're dealing with a familiar of an Albion royalty, I don't think it's as simple as reporting this to the Royal Court. Also, Miss Birdway has also insisted that her familiar is not an Academian despite looking like one. Frankly speaking, I don't think have enough proof yet. After all, we still have no proof of his birth records. He could be half Academian for all we know."

"Negating magic with his right hand is enough proof. According to Tristian's laws, any unnatural phenomenon caused by a person without the use of a wand is considered as a heretic and must be executed. Not even the Queen has the power to overturn that sentence."

"However, according to Albion's law, anyone from the Albion Royal Family has the power to spare the life of a heretic unless their Queen insists otherwise. We could end up indirectly starting a war between Tristian and Albion if we're not careful."

"I understand."

Colbert gave a small bow before leaving the office.

In the first place, he did not understand what was the purpose of sending the Albion princess Leivinia Birdway, a mage about as powerful as the Headmaster into this academy. Colbert feared that with the addition of a suspected heretic summoned by Leivinia, the academy might end up being thrown into the chaos caused by silly politics.

"Life's never easy after all..."

He let out a sigh as he headed for a lecture hall to teach a class of third year students about fire magic.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Firstly, to those guest reviewers who I cannot reply through PM. Thanks for your reviews. :)

Given that Leivinia is a person who does not shy away from hard work, no way she would ever act like spoiled brat like Louise. Except for doing the laundry. No one likes doing laundry. Do you?

Sorry that the events are largely unchanged, even though the people inside it has changed quite considerably, haha.

The core idea behind this story is basically espers vs magicians which turned into heretics vs non heretics. The story events might remain rather similar for a while but the lead up to the Reconquista arc must diverge because Leivinia is an Albion royalty in this story.

No prizes for guessing who the Electric Princess is. I'm sure it's really really obvious!

As for the obligatory Guiche duel, let's just say Guiche is not the best strategist around and makes questionable decisions.

There are many things here which probably needs further clarifications, but just drop me a PM or ask in the review box if you have questions. If you enjoyed this chapter as well, do kindly also leave a review if you like :)

See you!


	3. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2: Pride**_

* * *

 **Part 1**

For a misfortunate person like Touma, he never thought how lucky he would be after his duel with Guiche.

"Eat up! Eat up!" A tanned, burly man dressed in a white apron and a chef hat chuckled as he poured another bowl of creamy stew for Touma in the kitchen with a few maids preparing food at the stoves behind him for dinner later.

He was Marteau, the head chief of this magic academy. After seeing how Touma was willing to put his life on the line to protect Siesta, he had to do something in return for him.

A maid placed a plate of chicken drumstick in front of Touma with a smile. Helping Siesta, a kind-hearted and hardworking person popular among the other maids meant that Touma was now a friend to the rest of the maids working in this academy.

The flavourful smell assaulted Touma's nose, and he sighed. "Ahh, it's so delicious, but I'm so full that I can't eat anymore. Such misfortune."

Siesta, who was sitting beside him, tried to smile as well to match the cheerful mood around her, but now that this spiky-haired boy has been completely exposed as a heretic, what would happen to him from now on? Would he be dragged into court this evening to be trialed before being executed? Or would he just be executed? It was hard to smile when she had so much to worry about.

"Hey Siesta, don't worry so much about it, alright?" Touma said, "I'm the Imagine Breaker, and Leivinia is a princess from what I heard, so those Tri...Tristain people can't just drag me away like that."

Imagine Breaker was a name that other 'Leivinia' gave to the power in his right hand. It must have some meaning in this world if she mentioned it. Perhaps it might be the key in guiding him towards a path back home.

Siesta sipped on her cup of tea. It didn't help much in calming her down. "Leivinia may be a princess, but her surname is Birdway. She doesn't have much political power because she is not directly related to the ruling family. Those nobles are scared of her only because of her being a Square class mage."

Touma looked at her confused, "Square class mage? What do you mean by that? Just how powerful is she?"

Destroying three of Guiche's golem in a fiery flash proved Leivinia to be powerful, but just how powerful?

"I'm sorry. I'm just a maid so I don't know much, but a-"

"Square class mages are powerful because they can stack up to four elements in a single spell." A pale, blonde-haired maid cut in as she sat beside Siesta, "The more elements you can stack, the more powerful your spells are. However, the maximum is four. Since Miss Birdway is a Square class mage, she can stack up to four elements into a single spell. Do you know she's about as strong as the Headmaster in this school? Makes you wonder why she even bothered coming to school if she's already that strong eh?"

As powerful as a magician who reached the maximum level in an RPG. Her magical wand who could turn into different things must be her end game weapon. Touma had a feeling that the reason why Leivinia entered this magical academy was to screw around with those nobles who were weaker, but far more arrogant than her. It felt similar to a high leveled player in an MMORPG who loved roaming around lower leveled regions to bully other players.

Marteau dropped a bunch of shredded carrots into a boiling pot of water. "It's a shame to see you gone, Mandy. Always so smart and observant."

"Aye." The pale, blond haired maid named Mandy said, "It was nice being with you guys, but all good things must come to an end. I promise I'll write back from time to time so you guys won't miss me."

"Where are you going?" Touma said.

"As a new maid for this Count Mott. Maids can be easily replaceable so we sometimes leave this place to work for another noble."

"Are you sure you'll be fine...?" Siesta said. Mandy was another worry that bothered her for quite some time ever since she heard of the news. "Remember Veronica? She went to work for Count Mott as well and she promised to write back like you, but until now we have not received a single letter from her!"

Mandy shrugged, "Perhaps she was busy? Either way it's not like I have a choice. If I end up dead, so be it. We all die in the end."

She took out a small, sliver flask from her pocket and gulped down its content. Drinking alcohol in small amounts helped her relax whenever the job got stressful.

"Dead? What do you mean by dead?"

Touma didn't understand how working for a noble would mean death. Nobles may not be nice people and treat people below their status harshly, but surely they're not cold-blooded murderers.

"I'm just kidding!" Mandy hiccuped before chuckling loudly. "And you Siesta, stop giving me that face! I'll be fine! Speaking of which, are you really the Imagine Breaker?"

"Well... it's the name of the power in my right hand. Is it really that bad working under nobles?" Touma said. There must be a reason why Siesta was so worried about her.

"It depends. Some nobles are decent people, and some are not. For maids like us, it matters a lot more because working under indecent nobles is well, bad. I don't know how Count Mott is like as a person, so I can't tell. He might turn out to be a decent guy, and didn't I tell you to cheer up already Siesta? I'll be fine, okay?"

Siesta sighed, "But..."

"Hey, hey, hey. It's supposed to be a happy occasion to celebrate a hero named Imagine Breaker who saved our dearest Siesta from being fired, so let's not talk about worrying things!" Mandy cleared her throat, "Now, everybody knows about the strongest dragon knight in Albion and his giant sword named Ascalon, but... not many knows about the dragon itself. I see now why you are Miss Birdway's familiar. Her father Thomas Birdway was that strongest dragon knight in Albion after all."

Maybe Mandy was right, Siesta thought. She should stop worrying about things that might not happen. Maybe Veronica was just busy and didn't have the time to send letters back in the Academy. Or maybe the letter was just lost in the process. Count Mott might not be as evil as she thought. At least not evil to the point of taking advantage of their body by force.

"That's impossible!" Siesta said. "A dragon can't turn into a human. Imagine Breaker is just a name. Just because that dragon is named Imagine Breaker doesn't mean that he is a dragon turned into a human."

It was Marteau's turn to say something. A satisfying aroma from his simmering pot of soup filled his nose.

"Some dragons can. Like Rhyme Dragons. I don't know if it's true or not, but if a few nobles was talking about it then it probably has some truth in them."

Touma let out an awkward laugh, "Yeah! I'm just a guy from another world who got dragged into this world, not a dragon. It's just a coincidence that the name I chose for myself happened to be the same name as that dragon..."

In his world, maids were cute girls dressed up like Siesta working in cafes rather than actual servants serving a master. Especially serving a master who wields a power called magic. It was understandable that Siesta would be worried for her friend, who kept on reassuring her that things would be okay.

"Maybe it's really just a coincidence eh?" Mandy sighed, " After all, the dragon died in that war together with its owner, and that was just only about 5 years ago."

Despite saying that, Touma knew it was definitely not a coincidence. There was a reason why that 'Leivinia' named the power of his right hand as Imagine Breaker, and he just started to realize the meaning behind it.

"At least we Academians won the war in Gallia." Siesta smiled. It was one of those events in her life that would always bring a smile to her face whenever it was mentioned. "Maybe someday Gallia would be a place where we Academians would have a better life under an Academian king. It's very unstable now from what I heard."

Even if the Academians succeeded in capturing Gallia, it was not as simple as what Siesta had thought, a paradise at the end of a bloody war. Otherwise, she would have already moved to Gallia with her family. There must be complicated political issues with the new king being a Academian heretic, instead of a royalty who descended from Birmir and they needed time to solve those issues.

"Gallia? Is that a country?" Touma said.

Siesta took another sip from her cup of tea.

"There are five countries in this world which is known as Halkeginia. Namely Tristian, Albion, Gallia, Romalia, and Germania. Except for Germania, the rest were founded by the descendants of our founder Birmir himself. That's why it's only in Germania that we Academians are treated equally, heretic or not, but it's a violent country where the strongest survive, so for most of us who wants a peaceful life Germania is a lousy place to stay in. Gallia is our only hope for a peaceful Germania. It is unstable now but I'm sure things will get better soon!"

Even if Touma could not understand everything, the smile from Siesta said it all. Gallia was an important place to her. It was the hope of all Academians who wished to be treated as normal people instead of heretics.

With that understanding, Touma thanked the maids and the head chief for giving him food before making his way back to Leivinia's room.

It was the only place he had left to go.

Home was about a billion years back in the past where a planet named Earth once existed.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Was there any meaning in going back?

Touma wondered as he paid no attention to the nobles walking along the corridor glancing at him with awe and fear.

He had some friends at school in Academy City, especially Tsuchimikado Motoharu, who was both his neighbour and classmate.

However, he had no family. They died trying to protect him from the unreasonable people who blamed him for all their problems. In that sense, he was also a 'heretic' in his own world. His life before entering Academy City was to survive from whatever that would take his life away.

Misaki...

In the darkness, she was the only light in his life.

Yet, she had to live in a completely dark world because of him.

And his world was no longer dark when he decided to move into Academy City because of Misaki.

Maybe it was for the best that he never return back.

Wasn't this what he wished for? To never come in contact with Misaki for the rest of his life.

Touma realized that all the doors looked exactly the same as Leivinia's door. A deep, brown wooden door.

Now where's Leivinia's room again? Maybe this one?

As Touma turned the knob, a unnatural sound like glass shattering could be heard.

A view almost forbidden to most men came into sight.

It was Kirche with only a white towel wrapped around her tanned, busty body.

"I-I'm sorr-"

A red, reptile-like creature behind him knocked Touma inside with a swish of its tail, and the door slammed shut with a wave of her wand.

"Oh, hey." Kirche said as the creature scuttled towards her. "What brings you to my room?"

Strangely, she seemed unusually calm. Touma had been in enough situations similar to this to tell. Sometimes, the more calmer the girl appeared to be, the more angrier she actually was. An accident like this would no longer end peacefully with objects thrown in his way. If he was not careful with his apology, it could mean death.

Touma bowed. "I humbly apologise for entering your room without permission. Please forgive this poor boy if he has offended you in any way."

Kirche broke into laughter, "Why are you acting just like Siesta despite being so strong? For a familiar belonging to Leivinia, you are unusually... polite? I know it's your culture to bow as a form of apology, but you just look funny to me."

"Eh? I don't understand what you mean..."

Touma remained smiling as he felt a small pain in his heart from having his feelings disrespected by an ignorant foreigner.

"It is said that a familiar is an extension of its master so I would have expected you to be as arrogant as your master Leivinia. Especially since you have proven yourself to be a strong familiar, Imagine Breaker. I thought you were killed in that war, but it seemed that you were revived by Leivinia in your human form."

"It's just a coincidence. No matter how you look at me, I'm just an ordinary high school student. I'm definitely not a dragon."

"High school student...? You Academians just love to throw around words only your own race can understand. But that's okay really."

Kirche flashed a slutry smile, approaching Touma seductively, " I, Kirche von Zerbst, am especially attracted to strong people like you. How about we have a little fun at my bed. I can only spare 15 minutes at most, but I guess you won't even last for 5 minutes."

Touma's face flushed red as he found his body heating up. Even if he had a special ability in his right hand, he was still a man drawn to the attractiveness of an exotic angel like Kirche.

Kirche undid the knot holding her towel around her body using her wand, exposing her nude body.

"What are you doing?!" Touma said.

"Are you really that inexperienced?"

Touma took a step back. "You can't be serious!"

He felt his rationality fading away, his breath getting shallower, and his heart beating faster. This was misfortune cursed upon him. If he could not think rationally, this might just be the end of him.

"Stay away..."

Kirche chuckled. "Why do you even bother resisting? All of you men are the same anyway."

He tried to maintain whatever rationality he had left and think of a way to get out of this peacefully but by then, she was too close to Touma, and he found his instinct taking over his body.

Touma swung his left hand, knocking the wand away from Kirche. His right hand curled into a fist hurled straight at her face. The impact sent Kirche crashing towards the dressing table.

"Wh-What...?"

Kirche winced, a sharp pain running up her back from the impact. She could taste the blood flowing from her nose. It reminded her a lot about her home country Germania.

Touma's face went pale when he saw the mess he created. Bottles of varying sizes and small circular items were scattered around the floor, and a naked girl with an angelic body, but a bruised face.

"You know," Kirche wiped the blood off her nose, "I would have died if this was Germania. I've become extremely complacent."

Germania. Siesta mentioned that it was a violent country where the strongest survive. It was also the only country where Academians were treated equally, heretic or not.

"I didn't mean it! You were too just close! I'm sorry!"

Was having a different instinct from normal people proof of how badly he was traumatized? There should have been a better way to reject her, but his instincts had taken over when her immense beauty robbed him of his rationality. Would a battle break out between him and her just like that duel between Guiche?

Kirche picked up her wand with a smirk, body slightly trembling. Why was this boy always acting so weak when he was actually strong? And he wasn't even being sarcastic. How cute.

"You've got me really excited in a good way! I've never felt that excited ever since I came to Tristain!"

Of course such a strong person like him could never fall into her arms that easily. If she had to prove her superiority in another way over him to get his body, then so be it.

"I, Kirche Von Zerbst, challenge you to a duel right here right now! If you lose, you will offer your body to me for fornication."

"What?! Do you really want to sleep with me that much?!"

Touma could only hold back his tears. It was probably only less than three hours since his last duel with Guiche. Why was he thrust into a life and death situation so soon?

He could almost hear a desperate voice saying something like 'Death? You mean death to your virginity status? That's a thing most guys would dream about! Just accept defeat and jump into her bed!' but he found himself unable to go against his instincts. Being that vulnerable in front of a stranger who he hardly knew was about the same as committing suicide.

Laughter burst out of nowhere. It had a familiar tone to it, but to Touma it seemed extremely out of place. Was such a voice actually capable of laughter? He then realized who that laughter belonged to.

Kirche widened her eyes in shock as she swiftly dressed herself using her wand.

"Leivinia Birdway?!"

Since when was this monster hiding in her room using an invisibility spell? Was she secretly following her familiar around while being invisible?

Leivinia folded her arms, her face like a smug child laughing at stupid adults.

"You have certainly fallen to a new low, Kirche Von Zerbst. I won't allow my familiar to accept a retarded duel like yours. From the moment you decided to prove yourself through strength, you've already lost as a female."

Kirche pointed to Leivinia's flat chest with her wand, her face like an adult tired of children who tries too hard in trying to be an adult without truly understanding them. "And what do you know about being a female, Leivinia Birdway."

Leivinia's face flushed red, her smugness faded into embarrassment and frustration.

No matter what situation Leivinia put her through, Kirche always seemed to keep her slutty confidence intact. She refused to be embarrassed to Leivinia's chagrin.

"I-It's still in the process of growing! What's so great about girls with those ridiculously huge chests anyway! The beauty of a female is not solely judged by the size of their chests! It's such a shame that a barbarian like you are so shallow. My familiar is a living proof of that when he punched your disgusting face instead of burying his face into your chest."

"Then why did you get so upset when the school ran out of milk for two days? Do you honestly believe drinking milk everyday would help improve that flatboard chest? Let's be honest, milk isn't some magical potion that gets absorbed by your chest. Besides, your familiar is a dragon in his human Academian form. He's a special exception, unless..."

Touma shivered a little as he saw Kirche sizing him up with the eyes of a predator locking onto its prey as she licked her lips seductively.

"Hey, Imagine Breaker," Kirche said, "Are you really a human and not a dragon?"

Leivinia disappeared, and the door flew apart with a bang.

It was Leivinia again at the doorstep with a sword in hand.

The 'Leivinia' inside Kirche's room was just a projection created by a wind type spell cast by Leivinia from outside.

"Let's go, familiar."

Why does she always become so quiet whenever Kirche does that?

Touma could only wonder as he left the room with Leivinia.

* * *

 **Between The Lines 1**

A six year old Leivinia found her usual schedule of reading books in her room boring and decided to take a stroll through the small garden outside her cottage.

Her father loved gardening, and would often grow white lilies. Leivinia found them to be a calming presence against the pale, blue sky background.

When she asked if this was his favourite flower, her father would just smile and say that he had killed too many people in his life. Growing white lilies was his way of wishing them well in Vahalla.

Once, Leivinia asked her father a question while sitting among the lilies with him.

"Where is your dragon?"

"Tristain."

"Will he come to visit someday?!"

According to books, dragons are extremely strong and dangerous creatures. To tame a dragon requires one to be equally as strong as them.

Her father Thomas Birdway was the strongest among the rest, so Leivinia wanted to see how powerful his dragon was. If her father alone could effortlessly slay those terrifying orcs and minotaurs terrorizing their village with that gigantic strange looking sword of his, then his dragon must be even more powerful than what the books have written.

Thomas patted Leivinia's head, "If you're a good girl, perhaps."

"I've always been a good girl! Will he come tomorrow?"

He shook his head with a smile, "No, but Uncle William is coming to visit tomorrow though. That darn bastard better get me that item I asked from him or I'll have to make him cry and repent in front of my sword."

"I can hardly wait!"

Uncle William was an Albion mercenary who traveled all over Halkegenia. Her father often told her tales about his adventures with him when they were younger and were both mercenaries. His favourite story was the one where they faced Tristain's strongest and most feared wind mage, Karin, in a battle and lived to tell the tale.

Leivinia swore she would one day at least surpass Karin and make her father proud.

* * *

 **Part 3**

Had she now surpassed Karin?

Leivinia paused her reading inside her room as she let her mind wander a little.

Like Karin, Leivinia was now a square class mage.

Seven years ago when she was just six, she was nothing but an ordinary child living in a small village in Albion, who couldn't even cast a simple 'Lock' spell to shut doors from afar. Now, she could summon fire pillars powerful enough to crush a dot class mage.

She slammed her book shut. Just thinking about her mother was enough to put her in a bad mood. While Leivinia hated her mother, it was because of her that she managed to become a square class mage.

Leivinia fired an icicle towards a sleeping Touma at his usual spot beside her bed.

Touma's eyes snapped open. He shot out his right hand and negated the icicle.

"If I had been in a deep sleep, I would have died from your icicle! Can't you wake me up like how normal people do?!"

"Normal people can't cast magic in the first place. You should live in a village if you want to be woken up by normal people."

"Please show me the way to the nearest village, master. I, the Imagine Breaker, has decided to part ways from a kind master who has treated me well. All good things must come to an end and while I'm sad, it's inevitable that we must say goodbye."

The sarcasm in Touma's voice irked Leivinia. It was even more irksome that his name Imagine Breaker happened to be the name of her father's dragon. Her father's dragon was strong and powerful, not a pathetic retarded human like him.

"Oh shut up. You know nothing about the life of a villager. Many villagers would die to be in your place as a servant of a noble lady."

"More like to die in my place as a servant of the great noble lady Leivinia Birdway."

Leivinia fired another icicle which Touma negated. If the next word he said was still as frustrating as that roasted slut Kirche, she would destroy the room together with him.

"By the way, was there anything you wanted from me when you attempted to mur- I mean woke me up?"

Leivinia pulled open her desk drawer, and took out an owl-shaped object attached with a circular stand.

"You are an Academian, so you must know what this thing is right?"

Homesickness struck him as he observed the object more closely in his hands.

It was an object from his world, and it felt extremely out of place to see it in such a medieval looking place. Just by existing, it transformed Touma's perception of this place into an elaborate background scenery set up by movie producers.

He opened the battery compartment to find two AA sized batteries placed inside. Making sure that the batteries were placed correctly, he pressed the switch but nothing happened. There was also a USB port on the circular stand attached. It surprised Touma that Leivinia's portable night light was modern enough to have a USB charging function available.

"Where did you get it from?"

"It's a gift from my father. If you damage it, I'll rip your organs out alive."

Touma placed the portable owl night light on the desk gently like a fragile glass so fragile that a light breeze could easily shatter it.

"I think it needs a change of batteries. Any idea where we can get them?"

Leivinia consulted her book about Academia, but found nothing much about this thing called 'battery' other than the fact that it once existed in Earth as a primitive method to power electronic devices. That's right... her father did tell her that this gift was an ancient artifact from Academia.

"So are you saying that my portable night light is an electronic device?"

"It runs on electricity of course it's an electronic device."

"Shut up. Do I look like I'm of the same race as you Academians?"

Leivinia prepared paper and a quill. She would punish him for his arrogant tone tomorrow.

"Anyway, describe this battery for me. I doubt you'd know how to use a magical quill so I'll be the one drawing."

When she finished her drawing of the battery based on Touma's description, she folded the paper and slipped it inside her pocket.

"Two days from now, we're going to acquire this battery in town."

* * *

 **Part 4**

A young man held a burning torch in the dark, lighting up the forested area around him.

As he was a mere commoner unlike those nobles who could cast magic, being alone with fire as his only weapon against the unknown creatures lurking around in the darkness.

He had no choice. He must find his wife.

"Ran, where are you?!"

If it wasn't for the rising taxes imposed by those greedy nobles, he and his wife wouldn't have to start treading into dangerous forests to gather rarer magical ingredients and sell them to alchemists for more money to make ends meets.

"Just because you can form a small fire doesn't mean you're as strong as the Electric Princess!"

Her wife was an Academian heretic who could cast magic different from what the Founder had taught the Chosen Ones like the elves, but she had managed to evade capture by being inconspicuous. It was also because she could cast fire that led to her overconfidence in dealing with danger.

That small fireball bounced off the minotaur they encountered today in this forest without a scratch, and her wife ran deeper into the forest to distract the minotaur away from him.

He would not allow himself to abandon his wife inside this forest.

Loud, rapid footsteps shook the ground. The man threw the burning torch at the minotaur charging straight at him and threw himself sideways.

The flames set the minotaur alight, so the man could still see the danger. However, the fire faded away, turning his surroundings almost pitch black.

This was the end.

He felt something blunt crushing his abdomen. The next moment, he felt a searing pain around his neck and his mind went blank.

The minotaur took the man's head, biting off slices as it was eating an apple.

Bluish lightning arcs stung the minotaur, and it turned to face the source.

It was a human figure, but the darkness prevented it from knowing the gender of that figure.

"Pathetic."

The human figure was a girl who saw the minotaur devouring the poor man's head.

A girl dissatisfied with the system of this world.

She fired more lightning at the minotaur who shrugged it off as it continued charging towards the girl.

Minotaurs were resilient creatures who had unnatural resistance to the natural elements of the world such as fire or lightning. Also, their skin were as tough as steel. Not even dragons were that resilient despite being the one of the stronger races. However, minotaurs only had the intelligence of an wild beast, so they were a dangerous nuisance to people.

The only way to defeat a minotaur was to physically blow them apart, and their extremely tough skin made it difficult for most people to accomplish.

She leaped up into the air with bluish electric arcs surrounding her.

As the only way to defeat a minotaur was to physically blow them apart, she could not rely on gentler methods as shocking them into submission or death with just her electricity.

"About one quarter of the forest would be destroyed if I fire my Railgun... hmm..."

She took out a coin from her pocket, the lightning around her intensifying, and flicked the coin upwards. That minotaur could run loose into a nearby village and kill those innocent people for food like how it killed that man.

According to the Founder, it was the duty of those magic wielding nobles who calls themselves the Chosen Ones by the Founder to protect the commoners who could not use magic to defend themselves. Then why were they hiding in their fancy houses enjoying an increasingly luxurious life as they raise taxes while the commoners continue to suffer under them? Why didn't they send their armies to protect the villagers?

A black figure flashed in front of the minotaur, and its body split into two.

Surprised, the girl let the coin fall to the ground, and she landed onto a bloody mess of organs scattered around.

"It's been awhile." The girl said. She could not see the black figure hiding in the darkness, but her voice gave everything away.

"As inconsiderate as ever."

The girl who was the famous Electric Princess shrugged, "It's not like I had a choice. My specialty is electricity, and minotaurs happen to be super resistant against it. Only my Railgun could produce enough physical force to destroy it."

"Why didn't you come yesterday?"

The Electric Princess fell silent. She must have been very disappointed to not see her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't leave Tristain. Who will protect them if I'm away? Those nobles? I'm sure that idiot will forgive me."

"But you won't forgive yourself. Go. I'll look after Tristain while you're away."

"... Who does that idiot think he is anyway. It's not like I'm leaving Tristain just for him. Even I need a holiday as well, idiot!"

Walking away from the bloody mess, the Electric Princess wiped tears away from her cheeks.

Yesterday was the death anniversary of someone dear to her.

* * *

 **Part 5**

Contrary to what Touma had hoped, the world outside remained as medieval as the castle.

He was in Tristania, the capital of Tristain. A bustling, medieval looking city where stalls were set up at the sides of shop houses, and more stalls set up in a circle at a large, empty spot. Unlike the roads back in Academy City, it was much narrower, and Touma found himself moving aside to let a horse pulling a carriage through. There were no sidewalks along the streets, so people and transportation shared the same road.

Touma sighed as he rubbed his aching butt, "I didn't expect horse riding to be that torturous."

For some reason, some Academians were staring daggers at him, mumbling under their breath.

"Quit grumbling. You sound like one of those pampered brats back in the Academy. Perhaps you have been far too accustomed in sitting in a... I believe you call that an automobile in your world, but its time you start getting used to horse riding." Leivinia said, her expression as smug as always. It was satisfying to talk about her knowledge of a fascinating world that once existed because no one understood her.

"Do you even know what an automobile is?"

"Of course. It's a carriage that can move on its own without a horse. A magical potion known as Fuel is required to make it move. Until now, no one has figured out the reagents and ingredients required to brew one. "

"Can't you do the same with magic?"

Frustrated at how Touma seems to think that magic is some kind of a tool that allows people to create a second Vallaha in this world with a wave of their wand, Leivinia launched into an explanation about how casting spells requires willpower, and if they run out of willpower they can't cast anymore spells. It may be a gift blessed by the Founder, but it doesn't mean that magic has no limitations.

Just like an RPG's mana system... Touma thought. It made sense for Leivinia or the other mages to conserve their willpower as much as possible if recovering willpower wasn't as easy as drinking a willpower potion.

"Anyway, where are you going to get batteries? Is there some underground market for it? " Touma said.

"You said it's an electronic device right? We're going to find the Electric Princess for batteries."

"You mean... that Electric Princess? The hero of all Academians?"

"Yes. We'll have to head to an information broker first to have an idea of her current location in Tristain."

The Electric Princess was an Academian heretic, and also a very powerful one wanted by every single noble family in Tristain. The nobles had little success tracking her down. Even if on the rare occasion that they succeeded, she always managed to escape by overpowering their troops with her sheer prowess in Electric magic, a sub class of Wind magic. She hoped to get lucky from that information broker who claimed to be the best in the whole of Tristain.

A loud cry pierced through the bustling atmosphere.

"Please don't hurt her anymore!"

A woman knelt beside a barely conscious child lying in a pool of blood. Multiple icy shards were stabbed through her chest and abdomen. Despite her pleading, the middle aged man dressed in elegant clothing pointed his wand at the child, his eyes filled with disgust and contempt and fired one more icy shard through her body.

People gathered around the sobbing mother and her dying daughter, but none of them offered to help her. They knew if they stepped out to bring the dying girl to a healer at the church, this disgusting noble known as Count Mott would make them his next victim like the girl.

"You know very well that assaulting a noble means death." Count Mott said.

And so whoever who steps out to protect the girl would be considered as an accomplice and would be executed to death as well.

Leivinia rolled her eyes. Of course her familiar would be the retarded one to step out and protect the girl. Does this guy even cares about the consequences of his actions despite knowing that he is an Academian heretic?

Touma pushed through the crowd and negated an icy shard fired by Count Mott.

The crowd gasped in shock. An Academian exposing himself as a heretic in front of a noble?!

Even Count Mott blinked in surprise. He had never seen a heretic Academian as bold as this spiky-haired guy standing in front of him.

"Someone get her a healer before she dies from losing too much blood!" Touma said.

No one moved. All of them just stood in shock at what Touma did.

Touma frantically looked around, even more shocked and angry at the crowd's reaction. "What's wrong with you people! A person is dying! Someone save her!"

This reminded him of the times where nobody cared about him and left him to die. If it wasn't for Misaki, he would no longer be alive standing here.

"Anyone? Do something! This girl is fucking dying!"

Count Mott let out a small chuckle, "Don't blame them. They're just abiding by the law. This girl has committed a grave offence by assaulting a noble, and whoever who offers a hand to this criminal would be considered as an accomplice. Which means they would be sentenced to death as well. No one here will help you. And as for you heretic..."

Touma clenched his fists at the unfairness of this situation.

He had been placed in many unfair situations, but having no power to change things infuriated him. Punching the noble's face would change nothing. The two guards accompanying him would probably stab him to death first before his fist could reach that noble's face.

Wait. If he could get him to a nearby healer, he could change things. The only person he knew was powerful enough to keep the girl alive was...

Leivinia turned her wand into a cup, and summoned a faint, bluish mist, melting all the icy shards embedded in the dying girl's body into water and closed up her wounds. However, the girl turned unconscious after that.

"Don't worry. She's not dead yet. Get her to a water mage so that her internal wounds can be completely healed." Leivinia said.

The sobbing woman nodded her head with thanks and hugged her daughter close.

Touma smirked. "You do know you're an Albion princess committing an offence in Tristain if you help this girl."

"Honestly, I could hardly give a damm."

If only Leivinia would change her sadistic tendencies towards him. Why does she always hide her kindness under such an arrogant, unfriendly mask?

Under her instructions, Touma left carrying the unconscious girl with her mother towards the church where there would be healers available.

Count Mott gave a small, respectful bow, "Good afternoon. If it isn't Lady Birdway. What brings you here to Tristania?"

No wonder that heretic Academian was so bold. He was under the protection of an Albion royalty.

"Princess Henrietta won't be pleased to hear of how you had attacked an innocent citizen for no reason at all."

"It was clear that this child attacked me with a rock. I only retaliated in self-defense. The people around us can be my witnesses. I'd prefer that you not drag Her Highness into such a trivial issue."

"Of course. Since this is a trivial issue, then let us forget that this ever happened."

"But she attacked me! I can't just let it go!"

Count Mott no longer had the patience to entertain a princess in name only who had almost no political power in Albion. He was the Imperial Messenger of Tristain, an important position in the Royal Court. Unlike this princess, he had some power over political issues in Tristain. Furthermore, the Albion royalty's power was waning day by day as Reconquista steadily captured more and more land in Albion.

"I may be a Birdway, but it doesn't mean I'm powerless. I know people far more powerful than you."

"I'm sure you understand the situation in Albion, Lady Birdway. Do you think people from the Albion Royal Family are of any threat to me anymore? They can't even save themselves."

Leivinia turned her cup into a sword, and aimed it towards Count Mott's throat. The two guards drew their swords as well and aimed it at Leivinia.

"How insolent. Are you saying you wish for the defeat of the Albion Royal Family?"

"O-Of co-course not, Lady Birdway!"

Even if Leivinia had no political power in Albion, she was still a square class mage while he himself was only a line class mage. In a battle, Leivinia would kill him ten times over without breaking a sweat.

"You will forget everything that happened this afternoon, or I will make you forget everything."

"Yes, Lady Birdway! Everything will be as you wish!"

Count Mott hastily left the area with his accompanying guards following behind.

"What a coward." Leivinia said.

So unlike her courageous, but retarded familiar.

Leivinia sighed.

Even if he wasn't as strong as she thought, his courage was enough for her to respect his retardedness.

* * *

 **Part 6**

"I understand your concerns, fellow ministers."

Princess Henrietta sat at the throne inside the Royal Court of Tristain, looking down at the rest of her ministers with kind, but tired eyes. Not only she had to deal with administrative issues to ensure the country runs smoothly, but the planning of future policies in various areas of Tristain as well. The additional burden of dealing with the internal politics among her ministers only made her more sick and tired of sitting at this throne.

"What should we do then, Your Highness?" A young man said. He was Vincent Lafleche De Gludenhorf, the new Minister Of Finance who just replaced his father who retired last year. "Should we send Duchess Karin to deal with the situation like what His Late Majesty has done eight years ago?"

It has been eight years since the Black Bullet has made her presence known in Tristain.

Four corpses all identified as nobles were found in a southwest area of Tristain. Also, food has been mysteriously disappearing for the past two days.

What confirmed their suspicion of the Black Bullet appearing in Tristain was a report this morning from a servant witnessing a black figure dash past Marcel Neri De Alsace, the fifth son of the Duke Of Alsace while he was taking a stroll outside his residence. Moments later, he exploded into an unrecognizable bloody mess.

This was how the black figure earned the title 'Black Bullet'. Movements as fast as a bullet fired from a musket, and kills its target without fail.

The four corpses found in an area near the village Tarbes was an area marked out by the Black Bullet known as the Death Zone. Like what it has done in other countries, until someone proves themselves worthy to the Black Bullet in the Death Zone, one noble will be killed every morning. If no one proves themselves worthy within one week, the Black Bullet would mark the closure of its Death Zone by placing five more corpses belonging to nobles in the area.

"I'm afraid that won't work. Albion once sent the same person worthy enough of the Black Bullet when it set up another Death Zone there and the killing still continued. We'll have to send another person as powerful as Karin this time." Henrietta said.

The court fell into silence. Henrietta felt sorry for her fellow ministers looking at each other, their usual false, friendly masks falling apart in the face of a crisis, revealing anxiety and despair.

No matter how corrupted some of them can be, none of them and their family members deserved to die in such a gruesome manner. Her father solved the problem by sending Tristain's strongest mage, Duchess Karin Desiree de La Valliere , the Heavy Wind. How was she going to solve the problem? Who could she send if she could not send Karin anymore?

With a heavy heart, Henrietta said.

"We will need at least a day to find a suitable candidate. I'm sorry."

* * *

 **Part 7**

Touma groaned at his misfortune as he trekked along a forested path with Leivinia lighting up the way with her burning wand.

After making sure that the church had kept the girl's condition stable with healing magic, he left to meet Leivinia at a well near the church, but a girl cried for help to search for her playful younger brother, so Touma was led into an alleyway by the girl where he got ambushed by a group of bandits holding knifes.

How he remained alive was a memory which flashed past him in a blur. When Leivinia arrived, the whole group was on the ground unconscious with several knife wounds, but were not life threatening. As expected of Leivinia, he was thrown into a deadly race for survival as she unleashed fireballs as punishment for being a complete retard who fell for the oldest trick in the book.

"Now how did finding batteries turned into a battle of life and death for me again?"

"If you're that afraid, you don't have to follow me. I can do this myself."

"I can't possibly leave my master alone in the darkness when she's still afraid of the dark despite no longer being a child anymore."

"I'm not afraid of the dark! I just feel better sleeping with the lights on!"

The light from Levinia's wand disappeared.

"I'll prove it to you."

"Don't be that childish! How are we going to see where we're going if you turn off the lights?!" Touma said.

Leivinia grabbed Touma's arms, "It's just a straight path. I just needed the light t-"

"To feel safer? Just admit that you're afraid of the dark, master. "

"For the last time, I'm not afraid of the dark, you bloody retard!"

They reached the end of the path to find themselves in a open field. The moonlight was bright enough to help them see that the area was surrounded by a ring of darkness, like a portion of the forest has been removed to create this field.

"Are you really serious about this?" Touma said.

Just when Leivinia thought she would never find the Electric Princess without resorting to more drastic methods, a letter from the Crown Princess arrived. It was a request to prove themselves in front of a menace known as Black Bullet at the death zone it had created near a village named Tarbes to save the nobles of Tristain.

Apparently, the Black Bullet knew the Electric Princess during the war in Gallia, so it might be able to tell them how to find her.

"No matter what you say, I'll fight the Black Bullet and win. This is also my chance to prove that I'm now as strong as those people I admired."

From a distance, a bird about the size of a bus landed onto the field.

Leivinia pointed to the bird, "You may leave."

"A familiar should never abandon its master. I'm staying."

Touma didn't want Leivinia's ridiculous arrogance to kill her. He could never abandon somebody and leave them to die. Much less a person who has been kind to him even though she may seem unkind.

Leivinia let out a small chuckle before sighing. "Actually, you're not my familiar because your right hand keeps negating the runes that would bind you as my familiar. Now that you know, don't feel obliged to stay. Leave."

"Even so, I won't leave you to die alone. I don't know how terrifying that Black Bullet guy is, and I know you're strong but when only less than 10 person has survived an encounter with the Black Bullet you'll most probably end up dead. At least I can increase your chances of survival."

"Very well, if you insist."

If he wants to be punished for his arrogance that badly, then facing the Black Bullet shall be his punishment. What a retard.

Leivinia heard a slight rustle, and a black figure materialized out of nowhere in front of her.

The next moment she found herself on the ground with Touma on top.

It was the Black Bullet.

If it wasn't for Touma, she would have died right there.

Leivinia pushed him aside and turned her wand into a sword. She had no time to reflect and be angry about how weak she still was.

As her magical affinity was closest to Wind, she could detect the disturbance of the wind flow she created around her up till the darkness to 'see' the change in position of certain objects.

The Black Bullet was in a constant motion inside the darkness, waiting for a chance to strike again. If it were to strike, there would be a vertical gap in the wind flow due to the displacement caused by its forward movement towards her.

From what she heard from the tales of those who survived, the Black Bullet could create an invisible barrier that could reflect incoming attacks. But what if she could land a hit on the Black Bullet before it could activate its barrier?

Leivinia leaped into the air and fired multiple wind arrows towards the space in front of her right exactly when the black figure dashed into that space. Just like she had predicted, it chose to strike in a straight path towards the darkness like the movement of a bullet.

The black figure froze.

Leivinia created explosions to destroy the wind arrows reflected back at her as she descended towards the ground.

When she felt her feet touch the ground, the black figure materialized out of nowhere in front of her again.

Too fast.

The Black Bullet was too fast for her.

It didn't matter how powerful her spells were if she was dead before she could cast them.

Leivinia found herself on the ground with Touma on top. He had once again knocked her aside before the Black Bullet could kill her.

A mature feminine voice emanated from the darkness around them.

"I'm Yuriko. Nice to meet you."

Uprooted trees rained down from the sky around them.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** As always, thanks to everyone who has supported this fic. Some of you might have realized that this A/N was edited, but at the time when I posted this chapter, I was so tired that I almost didn't want to do an A/N, so yeah, sorry about that :( Also, as for my other fics, there are some fics which I just no longer have the mood to continue, so it might take a really long time to continue. I just hope I have the energy and time to continue this fic.

The Black Bullet is basically a genderbent Accelerator, with its ability modified (aka more limitations) so that it won't be too OP in this setting. Touma has god-like instincts honed from years of misfortune, and it's pretty in line his prerecognition ability in canon. As for Leivinia... well I just made up some things to be more original, but at least in canon she could cast explosions like Louise, haha.

I have also edited Tabitha's dialogue in Chapter 1 after understanding her character better.

I'm used to writing stories in a modern setting, so my writing might suffer a little here, but still hope it's okay though!

There are probably things which are confusing, but I don't know which ones to explain, so just drop me a review or a PM and I'll answer them.

Also, if you liked the chapter, do drop a review as well because it helps in motivating the author to update, haha. If there are things you didn't like, you may leave a review as well stating why and I'll try to improve.

Thanks! :)


	4. Chapter 3

**_Chapter 3: Resentment_  
**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Count Igor Pelletier Mott, a hero who played a significant part in saving the lives of many Tristain nobles because of his recommendation to the Crown Princess to send that arrogant Albion princess Leivinia Birdway to fight the Black Bullet.

Or at least that was what he prayed would happen.

Mott sat down on his chair trembling as he picked up his glass of wine. No matter how luxurious his room was, there was no point in that if he was no longer alive.

Oh Founder Birimir, I beg of you! Please give your blessings to that arrogant bitch Leivinia Birdway! I still have a whole life ahead of me!

Marcel Neri De Alsace, the fifth son of the Duke Of Alsace, and the first victim claimed by the Black Bullet, had similar interests as him, and coincidentally they were both involved with stubborn people from Tarbes. Those girls would never understand that it was an honor to be chosen by them. Why stay in a dirty, old village when they could be enjoying life in a mansion with him?

The next victim to fall under the Black Bullet must be him. Even if he stayed in his mansion and not go out like Marcel, the Black Bullet would just destroy the mansion and take his life. This was what happened in Germainia once when the Black Bullet appeared there.

Mott heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

A servant entered the room. "My lord, the new maid Mandy is ready."

Oh yes, how could he forget about his new toy.

His lips curled into a gleeful smile, and fear and anxiety soon turned into a thing of a past no longer worth mentioning. "Excellent."

Even if he were to die tomorrow, at least he had a new toy to fulfill his fantasies for the last time.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Touma dodged trees after trees, refusing to let himself lose his balance as the ground shook from the impact.

What kind of magic is the Black Bullet using? Was there even any point in trying to figure out a weakness in magic?

No. There must be a weakness somewhere. He had a right hand that could negate magic after all. The problem was figuring out a way to negate it.

The black figure who identified herself as Yuriko weaved through the raining trees.

Trees started landing on the ground with so much force like bullets being fired from a gun that it left deep, overlapping craters on the field.

Touma sprinted forward, and threw his body to his left, dodging a tree behind him and to his right at once.

It seemed that for every tree Yuriko passed through, an invisible force would blast that tree down instead of letting gravity do the work.

He did not have any special ability other than the one in his right hand, so he could only watch Leivinia cast explosions, destroying the trees at the same rate they were fired by Yuriko.

His battle with that 'Leivinia' in Academy City before he got dragged into this new world taught him that while his right hand could negate fireballs, he could not negate the burning hot concrete bombarding him. Likewise, he could negate the invisible force blasting the tree down, but not the tree being blasted down. Basically, he could not negate an indirect result (the tree being blasted down) caused by a supernatural phenomenon (the invisible force blasting the tree down).

Yuriko disappeared into the darkness when she passed through the last tree in the air.

Leivinia followed soon after into the darkness with the same speed as Yuriko.

By firing a minimum of 22 explosions, with each explosion counted as using one card from her Major Arcana tarot magic, she would be able to temporarily enter into a superhuman-like state.

The Major Arcana was a set within a tarot deck containing 22 trump card. Each card represents the path that God himself has travelled from being banished into the world created by Him by the Devil as an ordinary person, and then eventually regaining his power and became God again. Leivinia's temporary superhuman-like state was an imitation of an ordinary person becoming 'God' once again.

While the methods were heretical since it does not follow Birimic's style of magic, it was also very dangerous because without enough practice and making the necessary adjustments to the body, one could easily kill themselves.

Yuriko's barrier may be able to reflect back magical attacks, but it might be weak against physical attacks.

It was Leivinia's only hope of destroying her barrier and emerge victorious.

She thrust her sword towards Yuriko.

It was a strike powerful enough to bring down a castle tower.

A mysterious force crashed down upon her, catapulting Leivinia back into the field.

The field was no longer called a field.

So much craters filled the field that there were craters within craters, and only brown earth remained.

Leivinia gripped her sword, and disappeared into the darkness in a flash.

If one strike was not enough to break her barrier, then she would strike one more time.

The same mysterious force crashed down upon her each time Leivinia thrust her sword towards Yuriko.

If one more strike was still not enough, then she would just strike again. The voice in the background asking her to stop being so reckless must be her retarded familiar. This was her fight, not his. He should just bloody disappear and not interfere anymore!

Her strike grew faster and faster, but the mysterious force slamming her back grew stronger and stronger as she kept attacking Yuriko's barrier.

Yuriko discreetly tapped her feet on the ground.

A sudden shockwave knocked Leivinia off balance into the air.

Yuriko gave her a slight nudge, and her body collided backwards into the field like being rammed by a hammer at superhuman speed.

Leivinia stabbed her sword on the ground, forcing herself to keep standing. Her world blurred and she found her grip loosening.

Why am I still so weak...? Wh-

With a loud thud, Leivinia's blurry world faded into black.

Touma ran towards her, and swung his right hand towards the air around Leivnia, who laid inside a crater unconscious.

Just this afternoon, Leivinia explained that casting spells requires willpower, and if they run out of willpower they can't cast anymore spells.

This must be what Yuriko was aiming for from the start when she failed to kill Leivinia twice in a single move because of him. She wanted to force Leivinia to cast as much spells as possible to greatly drain her willpower to the point where Leivinia would collapse in exhaustion like now, and then strike.

It landed on Yuriko's face, and she tumbled backwards onto the ground.

Instead of disappearing into the darkness, Yuriko stared at the spiky-haired boy who managed to land a hit on her.

"Your power is as annoying as always."

Now that she stopped moving around in a blur, Touma could see that she was dressed in a black ninjutsu suit covering her entire body except for her eyes.

"As always? What do you mean by that? Have we met before?"

Was Yuriko going to be another person that he 'forgot' like that 'Leivinia'?

She leaped into the air, and propelled herself backwards into the darkness.

"No, but I used to know someone who has the same power as you. Same hair as well."

After a short pause, Yuriko continued.

"Imagine Breaker, you've proven yourself worthy. I declare the Death Zone closed."

* * *

 **Between The Lines 1**

It was dark.

"I... did it..."

Leivinia panted. Her head throbbed from casting spells beyond what her willpower could handle, and a burning ache wrapped itself around her body like a heavy piece of cursed clothing, slowing her movements to a crawl, and her awareness blunted. Even the unpleasant feeling from the damp, foul smelling air which bugged her when she entered the dungeon seemed to have disappeared.

A gargantuan earth dragon laid dead in front of her.

This time, her mother would realize how strong she was now. So many elite knights and mages in Albion have tried, and none of them succeeded in slaying in this dragon.

However, Leivinia Birdway was now a ten year old prodigy who proved herself to be the best by slaying this dragon.

A cheerful voice resounded throughout the area.

"Impressive!"

It was her mother.

A sharp pain slammed against Leivinia's abdomen over and over again.

"Just kidding." The cheerful voice said.

Leivinia's feet left the air, and the crushing grip around her neck increased.

"You really think that you're strong? Are you the strong one now?"

Leivinia tried to say something, her face turning pale from the lack of air, but only managed to make gurgling noises.

"Oh dear."

Like a useless rag doll, Leivinia found herself hurled to the ground.

"Why are you still so weak? You should be awfully ashamed that you're still alive."

She felt her mother's hand on her abdomen. The warmth from her hand stung a little, but the pain around the area gradually went away.

Leivinia slapped her hand against her mother's arm but it remained as firm as a wall. She no longer had the strength to walk, let alone pushing away her arm. Her mother was mocking her again. Mocking her for being as weak as ever.

"If I'm that weak then just bloody let me die...!"

"You do realize you don't have a choice, right?" Leivinia's mother chuckled, "That's the price to pay for being weak, my dear Leivinia. Because you're weak, you can't even choose to die from your shame. You'll always be at the mercy of others if you're weak."

Those were the memories that flashed past Leivinia as her grip on her sword slipped away, and her blurry world faded into black.

A pathetic weakling who lost to the Black Bullet.

* * *

 **Part 3**

It was the first time Touma saw this Leivinia smiling.

Her usual slightly tense expression whenever she went to sleep was nowhere to be seen.

"Dad..." Leivinia muttered, still asleep in her bed.

Touma stroked her soft, shoulder-length blonde hair, and she chuckled like a child happy to be praised for what she did.

Was this really Leivinia lying on the bed? He found it hard to believe that this was the same arrogant Leivinia who would not hesitate to fire a fireball at him if she was displeased with him.

The doctor, or healer as they would call it in this new world, said that many of her organs were ruptured, causing a large amount of internal bleeding inside her body. Fortunately, they were in Tristain Academy of Magic, so there were enough healers to operate on her and heal the damage caused using water magic.

If it wasn't for the petite, expressionless blue-haired bespectacled girl named Tabitha who came with her blue dragon upon the request of the Crown Princess if they actually succeeded in closing the Death Zone, Leivinia would have died right there without any treatment, and himself stranded in the forest dead without any food and water.

At least her condition was now stable, and hopefully she would awake from her coma by today. Reacting to his stroking of her hair was a good sign.

Touma gathered all of Leivinia's dirty laundry into a round laundry pail, and headed to the fountain.

That has been part of his job as a familiar/servant so far for the past couple of days. Washing her laundry, cleaning her room, and organizing the books on her desk after her reading session in the night. Unlike the other nobles, Leivinia was considered as reasonable in that she did have a standard that could be achieved according to Siesta, but he was just an ordinary high school boy who was not trained in a maid school, so he received a considerable amount of 'training' from Leivinia.

At least thanks to her 'training', Touma was more aware of his right hand that could negate magic unlike his first battle with Guiche. Still, a part of him decided that Leivinia was actually using that as an excuse to hide her sadistic tendencies.

Proving oneself to the Black Bullet was a monumental achievement only less than ten people has achieved, and Touma could feel himself attracting attention from the nobles as he walked down the corridor carrying a wooden laundry pail.

"Hey..."

Touma turned behind to face a brown-haired girl, embarrassed.

"Yes?"

It took a moment for the girl to think about what she wanted to say properly. He was the guy who defeated the almost invincible Black Bullet after all.

"Umm... My father was worried sick about my two brothers when the Black Bullet appeared in Tristain, and he fell into a terrible illness because of that, but now he's getting better because you stopped the killing! Thank you so much! Everyone is now safe because of you!"

Touma nodded with a smile to the rest of the nobles who shared the same sentiment as the brown-haired girl and continued on his way to the fountain.

He only wanted to save Leivinia from her arrogance when he failed to convince her not to go, but it seemed that Leivinia wasn't the only one he ended up saving when he proved himself to the Black Bullet. Touma almost forgot that the letter from the Crown Princess was a request to save the nobles of Tristain, not saving that arrogant Leivinia who was probably too prideful to reject the letter.

Or maybe she sincerely wanted to save them, but was hiding it behind her arrogant intention to prove herself. All the more he had to go together with her. Even if those nobles were mostly not good people, but there were still good nobles like Leivinia, and he would never abandon someone who needed help, no matter how evil they may be.

Touma sat down in front of the fountain, and greeted the maid who was also washing clothes.

The maid took her pile of unwashed clothing and left the fountain without a word.

Touma grabbed a few pieces of clothing and soaked them in the freezing fountain water. He was sure that he did nothing to offend her, so why was she avoiding him? Did the commoners like that maid hated the nobles so much that they preferred them dead?

He noticed another maid headed to the fountain with a pile of clothing as well, but as soon as their eyes met, she walked away with an angry frown on her face.

Just two days ago, those two maids would have joined him in washing clothes with a smile on their face as they chatted about life back when they were still teenagers living in a village, and struggled to understand about the things in Touma's world. How things have changed so fast within a single night.

He spent the next two hours washing his clothes in silence, and another half an hour hanging Leivinia's wet clothing in the open area for laundry drying.

A maid splashed murky water at him, and left with the same angry scowl like that maid just now. Another maid threw rotten food waste at him, which he dodged perfectly, but a banana peel caused him to slip on the ground, and so he found himself caught by the onslaught of a rotten food waste waterfall.

When Touma stepped into the corridor again, the stench was so strong that a few nobles puked. A frantic noble waved his wand at him, but his eyes widened in horror when he realized his spell to get rid of the smell could not work on him.

A few other nobles tried to do the same thing as well, but ran away puking when they also realized that their spell could not work as well.

"Was that how he proved himself to the Black Bullet?!"

"It's too strong! I don't think I can make it th-"

"Help us! He-"

The sound of those nobles running and vomiting soon filled the corridor. For a short while, Touma felt as powerful as the Black Bullet when his presence alone was enough to trigger such panic, but he was more ashamed for causing such a great inconvenience to others.

He felt a hand tugging on his arm.

It was Siesta with a smile. The only maid who was still smiling at him.

"Follow me. I'll get you cleaned up!"

* * *

 **Part 4**

Touma was in the kitchen with only Siesta inside heating up a pot of porridge by the stove. Soap and water got rid of the stench easily, and he felt more refreshed than ever.

"Where are the rest?" Touma said.

Siesta took a wooden stick, gave it a quick wash and started stirring the pot, "They're just having a break, and some has other jobs to attend to. I... don't think you would be allowed in if they were around."

"Do you really hate the nobles so much that you prefer them dead?"

"Maybe you were forced by your master to fight the Black Bullet, so I don't blame you, but the others don't see it that way. Unlike the Electric Princess who mainly protect us from dangerous creatures living around villages, and shock those corrupt local nobles to force them into treating us better, the Black Bullet kills them in such a horrible way that it would be months or even a year or two before they revert back to their old self for fear of the Black Bullet appearing again. Just when we thought our families outside would have a better life, you and Miss Birdway had to prove yourself to the Black Bullet and stop the killing."

"I was not forced by my master."

Siesta stopped stirring in shock, "Eh?"

Touma did not want Siesta's kindness to be based on an misunderstanding. There was no meaning in a relationship built upon a lie.

"The Crown Princess sent us a letter to request that we save those nobles from the Black Bullet... Even if those nobles are corrupted and cruel people, I can't just abandon and leave them to die. "

"I see... it was a letter from the Crown Princess."

Siesta lifted the pot of porridge and hurled its boiling content onto Touma before slamming the pot to the ground with tears on her face.

"I really thought you were a hero who was on our side when you saved me from being fired! In the end, you're just a person after fame and fortune by sucking up to the Crown Princess! Do you know how happy I was when the Black Bullet set up its Death Zone near my village? Do you know how much my village has been suffering under those disgusting nobles? You said you can't abandon those cruel nobles and leave them to die, so you would rather abandon us commoners to save those nobles? That's just a lousy excuse, isn't it?!"

Touma let out a self-deprecating laughter, and left the kitchen with large patches of red on his skin, and porridge dripping from his body.

He was only human, not a god. He could not save and make everyone happy at the same time.

If Siesta thought of him as a shallow person after fame and wealth by proving himself to the Black Bullet, then so be it. What could he do about it other than enduring the pain in his heart and move forward as a person.

"Darling?! What happened to you?!"

Kirche rushed over towards Touma, dragging her friend Tabitha, who happened to be the same girl who transported both Touma and Leivinia back to the academy using her dragon, along with one hand.

Touma shrugged, "Just being misfortunate as always. And since when did I became your 'darling'?!"

"Ever since that night when you proved yourself to be different from those frail Tristain males. I heard you defeated the Black Bullet last night! Darling, you're so amazing! Won't you spend another night with me while your master is resting in her room? This time, I'll show you how much passion a Germanian is truly capable of."

Kirche winked, the excitement in her eyes evident. If it wasn't for the burns and porridge on his body, she might have wrapped him around her arms, and Touma did not want to hurt anyone again if she got too close to him. It does says a lot about his misfortune if he started worrying about things that guys would kill others for.

Tabitha waved her staff. The porridge evaporated into the air, and the burns around Touma faded away, except for the ones on his right hand. She waved her staff again towards his right hand, but nothing happened.

"Imagine Breaker?"

"Well, yeah. It's both my name and the name of my strange ability to negate magic with my right hand."

Kirche placed a fist on her open palm, "So that's how you defeated Guiche, and the Black Bullet as well! If you have such a miraculous ability, you can defeat even the Elves!"

"Blasphemous." Tabitha said.

"What do you mean by that?" Touma said.

Kirche laughed, "I didn't know you were such a pious follower of the Brimiric Faith."

"I'm not."

"Hmm?" It took Kirche a few seconds of looking into Tabitha's eyes to understand what she meant by blasphemous. It was just her stating a fact instead of being offended by Touma's ability. "Ah, I see. Darling, do you know about the Birimiric Faith?"

Touma shook his head before letting out a sigh, "And for the last time, I'm not your darling. Are you a masochist or something?"

"Darling, what's a masochist?"

"... Never mind."

Guess there's no stopping Kirche in calling him darling.

"Anyway," Kirche cleared her throat, "The Brimiric Faith is what most of us here in Halkeginia believe in. Our Founder Birmir was sent by God to grant us nobles magic so that we may one day claim back the Holy Land taken away from us by the Devil. If you have the ability to negate magic granted to us by God through our Founder Birmir, doesn't that make your ability blasphemous?"

"Inquisition." Tabitha said.

Touma blinked in response to Tabitha's unflinching gaze towards him. Was his ability that blasphemous to her to the point where she was considering an inquisition?! While he did not understand the exact meaning of that word, it felt like something related to taking his life away.

"Inquisition...? "Is it something that involves killing me?"

Tabitha nodded, "Scared?"

"If darling could defeat the Black Bullet, what's a stupid inquisition to him." Kirche said.

Tabitha shook her head, "Romalia's God's Right Seat. Scary."

Kirche protested, "It's just a rumor! They don't exist!"

"They do."

"They don't!"

After a few minutes of arguing over the existence of a very powerful but mysterious organization in Romalia, Touma decided that this had to stop or else they might end up arguing till they die of old age.

"By the way... I was wondering if there's any milk around here."

His words surprisingly stopped their intense verbal sparring with ease.

"What for, darling? For Leivinia? How lucky she is to have such an thoughtful and amazing familiar like my darling." Kirche sighed as she grabbed hold of Touma's arm. "I'm so jealous."

"Well, she likes milk, so I thought milk would be nice... and why are you so close to me?!"

Tabitha made a slight cough, "Classes."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!"

Touma heaved a sigh of relief as Kirche let go of his arm in surprise.

"Wait here." Tabitha said.

She headed towards the kitchen and returned with a jug of milk. For a girl who seemed to be stuck in her own world reading a book most of the time, Tabitha was much, much more observant than Touma thought.

* * *

 **Part 5**

Leivinia awoke to find herself in her room back at the academy.

My room...? I'm alive...?

Bright sunlight filled the room, so it was probably around noon now. Sitting beside her bed was her retarded familiar, with a jug of milk placed on a small round table.

"We went into Valhalla together? Is that our room in Valhalla? That's odd... you're not my familiar so why are we sharing a room?"

As the familiar is an extension of its master, if the both of them died then they would both be placed together in Valhalla, a majestic, enormous hall where the dead who died in battle would be each given a room where they would rest in peace until the next apocalyptical battle with the Devil where they would fight alongside God to protect His Creations. Was it because she summoned him, so God decided that she take responsibility even in death?

"What's Valhalla? We are still in Halkegenia."

"Oh, I see."

If she fell unconscious during her fight with the Black Bullet, and they were both still alive, then it could only mean one thing.

"You proved yourself worthy to the Black Bullet?"

Touma sighed. "Yeah. I got lucky and landed my right fist on her face. I had no idea what you were planning when you kept charging into the darkness over and again, but you looked really stupid to me."

Leivinia rolled her eyes. What did he even know about the Black Bullet. What made the fight between her and the Black Bullet unfair was that ridiculous barrier that could reflect every attack straight back at her. If she could destroy that barrier by applying enough physical damage, then victory was certain. Perhaps there was something more to the Black Bullet's barrier that made it invincible to every attack, or she failed to apply enough damage.

However, her retarded familiar's right hand broke through that invincible barrier she failed to penetrate and punched the Black Bullet.

Imagine Breaker... that's right. If it wasn't for the dragon, her father would have died during his battle with the Black Bullet when Albion sent him to close the Death Zone.

Now, if it wasn't for her retarded familiar who possessed a similar power as the dragon, she would have died just like her father.

She should have just died.

In the end, she was still a pathetic weakling. If people like Karin and that blasphemous existence in Albion could succeed in being strong enough to prove themselves worthy in front of the Black Bullet, then why can't she? Doesn't that show how much a pathetic weakling she was?

Touma poured a glass of milk, "You want a drink?"

"No."

Leivinia wanted to take a walk in the garden near Vestri Court, a courtyard located between two castle towers of the academy. She always loved how the white lilies would remain at a corner among the other flashier flowers like roses, as pure and beautiful like how her father grown them.

No retarded familiar was going to stop her.

"What are you doing?!" Touma said as he kept Leivinia from getting off her bed by pushing against her shoulder, "The healers said you should at least stay in bed to rest for the next twenty four hours! Do you want your organs to be ruptured again?!"

"Shut up!" Leivinia shot him a defiant glare, "I. Don't. Care."

Her body might be so weak that she had no confidence of making her way out into the open before collapsing, but that doesn't mean she had to accept that and not do the things she wanted. She was not a complete pathetic weakling. She would not be under anyone mercy just because she was weak.

Leivinia realized that she didn't have the strength to hurl the jug of milk at Touma, so she pushed the jug off the table, and the loud shattering noise made Touma release his grip on her.

Good. Now that her retarded familiar wasn't in the way, she could finally le-

"Don't get off the bed first. It's slippery."

Touma sighed, like a tired adult dealing with a child's tantrum. It angered Leivinia to see him mocking her with a sigh.

He thinks that would be enough to stop me?

When Touma was far enough, she left the bed, slipping on the puddle of milk and fell to the ground face down with a loud thud. There were cuts around her arms and legs from being grazed by the glass shards.

Leivinia could not prop herself up from her face down position, and this was when she realized how weak her body really was.

Touma snapped, "Didn't I tell you not to get off the bed?! Why are you so stubborn?! Wouldn't it hurt for you to put your pride and arrogance aside for once?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

No matter how hard Leivinia tried, she could not prop herself back up.

Pride and arrogance? There was nothing wrong in being strong and independent. There was nothing wrong in protecting herself from being placed under the mercy of others.

Touma swept the glass aside, and lifted Leivinia back to her bed.

Being the weakling who did not even possess enough strength to walk properly, she could only glare at him in protest. He was the Imagine Breaker who proved himself as strong by defeating the Black Bullet, and she was the failure who would have died if it wasn't for him. The weak will always be at the mercy of the strong. How true that was.

"I'll go get someone to fix you up and clean the room." Touma said, his anger disappearing into something of resignation, "I really don't understand why you have to be that stubborn, and I know it might be too much to ask from you, but could you just stay in bed and not sneak out while I'm away? Please?"

"Do you think I'd listen to you?"

"Do whatever you want then."

Touma shut the door behind him as he left the room.

"That arrogant familiar!" Leivinia hissed.

However, the fact is that she had no strength to walk to the garden, and trying to walk there anyway would just result in the same thing like just now.

Leivinia swallowed her anger as she sat in bed, waiting for Touma to return.

* * *

 **Part 6**

The Electric Princess laid at a hilltop, flipping through pictures on her phone. It was a family treasure passed down from her ancestors, but she was the first one who managed to turn it from a unique ornament into a functional device with her electrical powers.

Inside were pictures of her and that spiky black-haired idiot. All of her precious memories with him, preserved inside perfectly.

Beside her stood a small, round gravestone.

It was difficult to find a hill in Gallia, despite being a large country, that was as green as this hill she laid on. The others were a charred mass of soil and grass. Those were the marks left behind by the brutality of war.

"You promised you'd come back alive, not dead."

That idiot knew it was a trap. Yet he decided to go anyway to save an enemy from being killed by another enemy.

The Electric Princess turned to face the gravestone, and her tears started flowing again.

"Liar. Idiot."

She also knew that coming here to visit his grave was a trap waiting for her. Even in Gallia, the Electric Princess was a heretic wanted by those after a huge bounty for her capture.

Footsteps.

Wiping her tears, the Electric Princess turned to face an black-haired Academian dressed in a weird clothing different from most people, and a sword strapped to his back. Behind him was a group of five hooded mages each wielding a staff.

"A small group? That's not as impressive as I thought it'd be."

The black-haired Academian chuckled, "My name is Hiraga Saito. What's yours? You must have an Academian name like me, right? "

To the Electric Princess, an Academian who prefers to openly introduce themselves with their Academian name either had a death wish, or were people strong enough to protect themselves from those nobles, like Yuriko.

"What do you want from me?"

She might be strong enough to protect herself from those nobles, but that doesn't mean she would give them an excuse to capture anyone else who happens to have Misaka or Mikoto in their Academian name for a 'trial'.

Saito smiled, "I see, cutting to the chase huh. Are you interested in joining Reconquista?"

"Isn't that the rebel group who is planning to overthrow the Albion royalty for pardoning heretical Academians as and when they like?"

"I'm sure you hate how joining Necessarius is the only way for people like you to live a normal life, and Gallia is too unstable. However, we Reconquista will grant you special Academians a normal life different from Necessarius once we capture Albion as long as you contributed in our efforts."

Necessarius, or the Church Of Necessary Evil, was an organization in Albion consisting of special Academians and heretical mages who would hunt down other special Academians and heretical mages in exchange for a pardon to live just like commoners by the Albion Royal Family.

"I'm tired of fighting a war. Leave." Mikoto demanded.

She wanted nothing to do with wars anymore. War was a cruel event, and she had no intention of reliving the pain again.

"You leave me with no choice then."

Mikoto leaped into the air as bluish electrical arcs danced around her, dodging a series of earth pillars fired from the ground. Lightning rained down on the mages, but it seemed to have little effect on them.

The weakness of special Academians like her was the inflexibility of their ability. For example, she could only use electricity and nothing else, so if a mage were to use a simple wind amour, her ability would be rendered useless.

She felt the air around her grew heavier, and its weight forcefully pinned her down on the ground.

"Do you know air is a good insulator of electricity because their atoms are far apart, so it is difficult for electrons to jump from molecule to molecule. What's your choice? To be killed by me as you get pinned down by something you cannot destroy with your electricity, or accept my offer?" Saito said.

Mikoto sighed without a worry on her face, "That's true."

Judging from his strange clothing, this guy might have been somehow transported from an era where Academia was still standing, and was abusing his knowledge to force her into submitting, but she was not a complete idiot when it comes to her power.

"But do you know how lightning are formed?"

A torrent of lightning fired at an incredible rate sprang out of nowhere, overwhelming the mages who lost control over the wind spell pinning the Electric Princess.

He might have been right about air being a good insulator of electricity, but given enough electrical charges, the air would turn into lightning bolts controlled by her.

Mikoto jumped off the hill into the forest below.

Just another day in the life of a wanted heretic.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story.

I hope the fight scenes I wrote are good enough to be readable. I'm always bad at fight scenes, but I try hehe. I consider writing Leivinia and Touma as original characters replacing Louise and Saito because I think most of the readers here are probably more familiar with ZnT than To Aru, so any advice in characterization would be greatly appreciated!

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.

Thanks :)


	5. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: R** **epentance (I)**_

* * *

 **Part 1**

Leivinia sat in her corner of white lilies at the garden near Vestri Court, sprinkling water from her magical cup onto the flowers. Despite wearing a thin, silk nightgown, the freezing night didn't bother her at all.

As the healers from the academy's infirmary certified her fit to move around on her own after several hours of frustration spent in bed reading a book, her retarded familiar had no more excuse to keep her in bed, so she finally could go visit her white lilies in peace.

They were as beautiful as always, swaying back and forth gracefully.

Leivinia's path in becoming the square class mage she was now started from that Water type cantrip she was doing with her magical cup, conjuring sprinkles of water out of nothing with magic.

Her father's best friend Uncle William tried to teach her a few cantrips before moving on to simple Dot level spells for self defense and a way to earn money by offering simple magical services such as healing minor injuries like bruises or cuts when he came to visit, but it all ended up as explosions. Air, Water, Fire, and even Earth cantrips ended up as explosions.

Leivinia did not understand why. Both her parents were born from people who could cast magic like those nobles, so it was impossible that she could not cast magic.

Refusing to accept her fate, she would practice everyday through a magic textbook left behind by Uncle William at the backyard. How was she going to surpass the legendary Karin if all her spells were explosions?

All her spells kept ending up as explosions until Leivinia finally had enough and devised her own method to cast spells instead of following the stupid Birimiric method stated in the textbook.

That Water type cantrip was her first spell she succeeded in casting without it ending up as an explosion.

Her happy life as a ordinary child living in a small village ended at that moment when she succeeded.

Leivinia decided it was about time she went back up to her room.

That bloody retarded familiar better be thankful that I don't have much willpower to punish him for being an annoying prick... and besides he's not exactly my familiar if I can't bloody form the familiar bond with him!

She had no one to blame but herself for summoning a... special Academian? it was either fail the Summoning Ritual using the Birmiric method because it would probably end up in explosions without nothing summoned, or risk something ridiculous using her own method. She did summon something so ridiculous that the nature of his power prevented her from binding him as her familiar, and he wasn't even someone who could unleash a powerful spell or two capable of destroying an army. What rotten luck.

... At least he has fast reflexes. Maybe that's worth something.

Leivinia loathed to admit it, but she would have died twice over during her fight with the Black Bullet if it wasn't for his reflexes.

She heard a disturbing sound of flowers being trampled.

Turning behind, eyebrows raised in amusement, she saw an Academian boy dressed in clothing as strange as her retarded familiar with a sword in one hand, and her beautiful white lilies crushed under his foot. He was probably the first Academian to destroy her flowers in this academy. It was annoying to grow them again, and to also educate those childish nobles that there are consequences for ruining her hard work in making those white lilies bloom so beautifully.

"Who are you?" Leivinia said.

"I'm Hiraga Saito. I'm here to kill you because your existence has tormented a girl so much that you deserve to die."

The rune marking on the boy's left hand flashed as he readied himself into a fighting stance.

Gandalfr? The legendary familiar rumored to have enough power to topple armies and end empires? What was he doing here? To eliminate a possible threat to his holy conquest in taking over Albion? What's with that nonsense about her existence tormenting a girl so much then?

Leivinia transformed her magical cup into a disk, smirking, "Make it interesting then."

It has been quite a while since she used Earth magic, but if that boy was somehow Gandlfar, then this would be a good opening move against a warrior like him.

The Academian boy known as Hiraga Saito charged forth, slamming his blade against an rising earth wall conjured by Leivinia. The earth wall exploded into a giant sandstorm while a barrage of explosions took him by surprise and knocked him around, losing his orientation in a world where he could only see sand being blown around at high speeds.

Saito pushed against the compressed air pinning him down from above with his blade. It seemed like Leivinia already knew that his next move was to jump out of this sandstorm to prevent himself from being ambushed, and to reorientate himself.

However, his blade was no ordinary blade. His blade was the legendary Derflinger used by various Gandalfr before him to topple armies and end empires. The compressed air disappeared as his blade absorbed the magic powering the spell.

A blurry figure hissed through the air, swinging a blade down towards Saito. Metal clashed against metal as the shockwave from the impact blew the giant sandstorm away, reducing the grassy field around them into a mass of crumbled soil littered with uprooted flowers and grass.

Saito gritted his teeth, his blade locked against Leivinia's blade with trembling hands. That single strike was so powerful that it could have taken out a small army of about three hundred in an instant.

"Gandalfr? Really? You're a bloody joke you know that?" Leivinia said.

Leivinia Birdway was supposed to be critically injured from her battle with the Black Bullet. Why was she still so strong?! Saito expected to end Leivinia with just one or two strike from his blade, not being locked in a painful stalemate.

Saito gathered what remained of his strength, pushed Leivinia's blade away, and leaped off into the night sky. This was a fight he might not be able to win using Derflinger if Leivinia was still that strong.

Leivinia let out a sigh of relief. She lasted long enough to scare that Gandalfr away. If she was at full power, he would be on the ground with her foot on his stomach, and sword against his throat. Gandalfr may have the power to topple armies and end empires, but he was not protected by an invincible barrier that could reflect any attack like that ridiculous Black Bullet.

A sharp pain assaulted her body. Blood trickled from her eyes, noses and lips, staining her nightgown red. Her internal organs must be tearing itself apart again from pushing beyond her limits.

Her last memories before falling unconscious was a crowd of students and teachers surrounding her in shock.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Kirche sighed. The wonderful garden view from the window in Tabitha's room was destroyed by the monster Leivinia despite her injuries when a mysterious assailant came after her last night. At least the healers managed to keep Leivinia alive, but her precious darling had to look after her, so it was going to be another lonely day without him.

"Are you ready for Familiar Day?" Kirche said.

Tabitha nodded her head, eyes on a book as usual.

"But I haven't seen you training with Sylphid at all. Are you sure you're ready?"

Familiar Day was an event where each Second Form students like her and Tabitha would present a performance by their familiar in front of the Crown Princess. While the prize for winning was just a medal, winning would also bring honor to their family, so all the students treated this event seriously. Kirche was not about to disgrace her family name by putting up a shoddy performance.

"Sylphid will win. No need for training."

"Really? Since when did you become as arrogant as that Leivinia, Miss Tabitha? I get that you're only the one with an impressive looking wind dragon, but my Flame isn't going to lose to your Sylphid!"

Tabitha pointed at one of the maid kneeling down in front of them, "Motivational snack for Sylphid?"

The maid's face turned pale in horror.

"If you're that scared, maybe you shouldn't have bullied Darling in the first place." Kirche chuckled. Maybe a maid or two might be a good snack for her fire salamander Flame. Some commoners like those audacious maids were about as the same as the bugs she fed Flame everyday.

In front of them were three maids on their knees, their faces lowered in shame.

One of them was a maid who splashed murky water at Touma. Another was a maid who hurled rotten food waste at him. Lastly, Siesta who dumped boiling hot porridge at him.

"This is a warning." Kirche dropped a pebble on the ground. Waving her wand, the pebble sizzled with smoke escaping from it. "If you two dare hurt my Darling one more time, I'll make you suck on those pebbles for an hour."

The two maids nodded, "Yes, Miss Kirche. We won't do it again. "

"Except for Siesta, the both of you may leave."

The two maids paused to look at Siesta concernedly, but a glare from Kirche sent them running away like frightened rats.

"Now, as for you Siesta. How do you think we should punish you for your audacity?"

Siesta felt a sharp, invisible blade resting against her neck. She looked up in shock to see Tabitha pointing her staff at her.

"Don't do that again. Understood?" Tabitha said.

"Ye-Yes, Miss Tabitha." Siesta mumbled, too afraid to speak properly.

The blade dug slightly into her neck. A drop of blood trickled down from her neck onto her uniform.

"Louder."

"Yes! Yes, Miss Tabitha!"

"Leave."

Siesta ran out of the room in tears.

* * *

 **Part 3**

There was no time to be crying. Siesta still had a few stack of dishes to wash in the kitchen.

She thought of the Imagine Breaker as a hero. A hero like the Electric Princess or the Black Bullet who would protect commoners and Academians like her. She was wrong. In the end, he was just a coward who could not stand up to his master like how he had stood up for her against Guiche. Yes, it was a request from the Crown Princess, but he was supposed to be fearless.

Some of the maids were afraid of him because he must be really strong like Karin the Heavy Wind if he survived against the Black Bullet. Others chose to ignore him, frustrated at his cowardice.

A rare few like her was so disappointed that they never thought about the consequences from... expressing their disappointment directly. At least they were lucky enough to be let off with a stern warning instead of being fired.

She couldn't control herself from being that impulsive. It was rare enough that the Black Bullet would set up a Death Zone in Tristain, let alone in her village Tarbes. If only he had not stopped the Black Bullet, then the nobles harassing her village would have disappeared because they were either killed by the Black Bullet, or was afraid of being killed by the Black Bullet if they remained in the village.

If only she had an ability like the heroes protecting them. Her family would then be safe from being placed under the mercy of those nobles who think that they can do anything just because they have magic. If only the legendary elixir that could grant anyone who drank it superhuman powers was not just a product of her favourite fiction novel, but reality.

"Siesta, pour us some tea."

It was Kirche seated at the table in the kitchen, her arms wrapped around a muscular, tanned guard . Judging from their skin color, perhaps the guard was one of Kirche's acquaintances back in Germania.

Siesta nodded with a smile as she prepared a pot of tea and filled two cups of tea, placing them on the table with practiced ease.

"Isn't she a good maid?" Kirche cooed. "Is Count Mott interested in another maid?"

This guard used to work under her family in Germania until he got tired of the chaos and moved to Tristain instead. He's also very good in satisfying her boredom and loneliness both physically and mentally unlike those Tristain's pampered nobles who looked so weak that even she could knock them down with a fist.

"Eh, my lord is always interested in maids. Just get the paperwork done, and I'll inform him."

"So... I'll take that as a yes?"

"I thank you on my lord's behalf."

Siesta froze. The shattering noise of the dish plate brought her back into reality.

The guard smiled at both Siesta and Kirche, and left the kitchen.

"Please don't send me to work under Count Mott!" Siesta trembled as her tears kept on flowing. Mandy promised to send a letter just like Veroncia, but until today there was still no letter. The worst must have happened to them, and she was going to be his next victim.

Kirche splashed her cup of hot tea onto Siesta, who winced in pain. "Then you shouldn't have been so cruel. You poured a fucking pot of boiling porridge! What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"I-I'm sorry... I won't do it again... I was ju-"

"Shut up. You'll be working for Count Mott, and that's final. If you act more submissive, he'll feed you better in that underground dungeon, and you won't get shared around with the other guards."

"You mean... Veronica, Mandy, and the others... all of them? Vi-Violated?"

"Yeah. A cruel girl like you needs to be taught a lesson for severely harming my precious Darling."

Siesta fell to her knees, horrified.

This was the end of her. She was going to die. All because of an impulsive decision.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

There was no one left inside the kitchen to hear her whimpering cry for forgiveness.

* * *

 **Part 4**

Reconquista was a rebel group who aims 'to unite all the countries into one single giant country so as to invade the Holy Land'. Currently, they were in the midst of launching a revolution in Albion. The mysterious assailant who attacked Leivinia must be from Reconquista to eliminate a threat to their revolution.

That was all Touma understood from the incident as he sat beside Leivinia lying in her room asleep.

The healers said it was a miracle that they managed to save Leivinia from dying. If she does not wake up within the next three days, she would most probably stay in a coma forever because the damage to her brain was so great that they were not confident that their magic was enough.

Touma stroked Leivinia's soft, shoulder-length blonde hair, hoping for a response. She remained still, her expression blank like a mannequin. Where did the child who would chuckle with a smile at her hair being stroked go?

Maybe it was his fault for leaving her alone. If he was there, at least Leivinia didn't have to exert herself so much to this extent. Then again, no one could have predicted that a mysterious assailant would break into the school to attack her.

"Rest well."

Touma patted Leivinia on her head before leaving the room.

"What should I do now?"

There was nothing much left for him to do. He finished washing all of Leivinia's clothes, and tidying her room. The whole morning and afternoon was spent inside the room keeping watch over her in case the mysterious assailant comes back.

Tabitha nodded her head in acknowledgement before entering Leivinia's room. It was her turn to keep watch over Leivinia while he took a short break outside. In this whole academy, Tabitha was probably the only one who did not hate Leivinia if she offered to help take care of her. Come to think of it, they were both people who loved reading books. Maybe it was this common point of interest which made their relationship something like an acquaintance instead of an enemy.

"I should take a bath or something."

As Touma was the savior of the Tristain's nobles, despite being an Academian and a mere familiar, he could now freely use facilities normally meant only for nobles such as the dining hall and the bathhouses.

He passed by a maid who glared at him in disgust.

From the privileges he now enjoyed, it was hard to deny that he didn't save the nobles by shutting down the Death Zone for fame and fortune. Apparently, the Crown Princess would visit this school three days later for Familiar Day, and to offer him some kind of reward for his heroic deed. In the end, all he wanted to save was that arrogant Leivinia who refused to turn down the request from the Crown Princess.

Touma heard a sobbing sound from inside a storeroom where the household cleaning items like mops, broom and buckets were kept.

Curious, he peeked inside to see a maid crying as she tidied the storeroom.

The maid noticed Touma. She pursed her lips and wiped her tears in embarrassment. If she didn't glare at him in disgust then she must be one of those maids who were more afraid than angry at him.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? " Touma said.

"You're the Imagine Breaker who saved the nobles for fame and fortune right? Why are you still concerned with commoners like us?"

"I don't care if you believe me or not, but I didn't save those nobles for fame and fortune. I saved them because they asked for help, and I couldn't abandon them."

"... Then will you save Siesta?"

Touma blinked with surprise. "Siesta?"

"I know she did a horrible thing to you by throwing a pot of boiling porridge at you, but will you still save Siesta?"

"I'll save her. Just tell me what's going on."

The maid's eyes widened in shock. She didn't expect Touma to agree that easily. "Really?! Even though she did such a horrible thing to you?! Why? There's no benefit in saving an insignificant commoner like Siesta!"

Touma smiled. What kind of a misfortune was he going to attract to himself this time?

"Because I don't need a reason to save anybody."

* * *

 **Part 5**

It took about 45 minutes of horseback from the academy to reach Count Mott's mansion with the help of that maid who guided him here.

According to the maid, Kirche bought out Siesta's contract and resold it to Count Mott. Siesta said that Kirche confirmed that the previous maids sold to Count Mott were all violated in an underground dungeon. This was her punishment for throwing a pot of boiling porridge at him.

Fortunately, his feat in proving himself to the Black Bullet earned him the right to seek an audience with this Count Mott without much effort.

In front of the luxurious red sofa Touma was seated on, there was only a brown, polished wooden table with a teapot and a few cups placed on it surrounded by three other similar sofas. Other than that, the living room looked exactly like how he would expect from a mansion. Large, with every furniture inside designed as magnificent looking as possible.

The man descending down the stairs was a man Touma would never forget.

He greeted Touma with a smile as he took a seat on the sofa across him.

"So we meet again, Imagine Breaker. I'm Count Igor Pelletier Mott, or Count Mott for short."

"You?!"

He was that cruel noble who almost killed a girl with his magic.

Touma suppressed the urge to jump out of the sofa and punch him in the face. If Siesta was in the hands of this noble, then he had to act fast. Tabitha advised him to negotiate first. It was best to resolve this incident peacefully because he was still a Count who held considerable political power in Tristian.

Mott poured himself a cup of tea. "May I know your purpose for paying a visit to my humble abode."

"Release Siesta this instant." Touma demanded.

"Oh my, you don't have to be that rude. If you can offer me something in exchange, I'll consider releasing Siesta."

Every second spent with this guy irritated Touma because he could not punch his disgusting face, but at least the negotiations seemed to going smoothly.

"What do you want in exchange then?"

"The Staff of Destruction located in the Tristain's Academy Of Magic. It's in a vault sealed by many layers of Square class spells. If you can steal it for me within two hours, I'll return Siesta to you in exchange. I'm sure it's a reasonable feat for someone as powerful as you."

"If you touch Siesta within this two hours, I'll kill you with that staff. Is that understood? "

Mott chuckled before sipping his tea gleefully. "Of course."

A miracle happened when he recommended both Leivinia and his familiar to the Crown Princess in desperation to close the Death Zone.

Would another miracle happen this time?

A miracle that would promise him endless riches and power far greater than a mere Count.

* * *

 **Part 6**

Tabitha closed her book, and put it aside at the table near Leivinia's bed.

"I see."

As Tabitha always had an emotionless expression, it was difficult for Touma to tell if she was deep in thoughts about what he said regarding his negotiation with Count Mott, or just staring into space distracted by something else.

Meanwhile, Kirche sat at a corner, a frown plastered over her face.

All she wanted to do was punish that Siesta for being so insolent. How could anyone forgive such an act? She threw a boiling pot of porridge at someone! That's equivalent to her throwing a Dot class Fire spell at someone. Tabitha was too kind to let her off with a warning. But her Darling, he was on the receiving end, yet he scolded her for being so cruel?

"Hey... I'm sorry, alright? I just wanted her to learn a lesson and get her away from you so that she can't hurt you anymore." Kirche said. She would love to hug him and beg for forgiveness through physical means she was familiar with, but he was not that kind of guy.

"You didn't have to sentence her to death. You knew what that Count Mott was capable of. Yes, she may have been unkind in throwing a boiling pot of porridge at me, but she doesn't deserve to die for that!"

Kirche remained silent. There was no point in arguing that she should be sentenced to death for committing such a grave offence to an esteemed person like Touma. Sending Siesta to work under Count Mott was not exactly sentencing her to death if she was smart, but most likely Count Mott would just kill her off once he got bored of her. He was from that strange place called Earth, and apparently they don't sentence people to death for such an act.

Tabitha went over to the window, and made a whistling sound with two fingers on her lips.

A dragon could be seen flying from a distance in the night sky towards her.

"Are we going to steal the Staff of Destruction?" Touma said.

Tabitha shook her head, and pointed her staff at the unconscious Leivinia, "Kirche, stay."

"Bu-But I can help as well!"

This was her chance to redeem herself in front of her darling.

Tabitha pointed to herself and Touma, making a zero sign with her hand.

"Nothing to lose. But you're different."

If Kirche were to join Tabitha and Touma, it would mean involving her family name into this incident, which might cause major political complications between Germania and Tristain since her family was very influential in Germania.

When Gallia fell to the Academians, Tabitha lost her nobility status. She had no title nor land anymore. No one else would be indirectly implicated into this incident.

As for her Darling... he was just Leivinia's familar who shot to fame for proving himself to the Black Bullet and saved the Tristain's nobles. Albion was in the middle of a civil war caused by the rebel group Reconquista. There was no benefit in getting the Albion Royal Family politically involved in this when they themselves were having trouble maintaining power over their country.

"Are you sure you don't need my help...?" Kirche said, her eyes pleading.

It was her fault that Siesta got into this mess. Even if it means throwing her family into a complicated political mess, she would get herself involved. Although Tabitha was a talented Triangle mage, and her Darling was a strong person who proved himself to the Black Bullet, but surely more help wouldn't be bad.

Tabitha placed a hand on Kirche's shoulder. "Don't worry. Stay, protect Leivinia."

Touma looked at Tabitha confused, "Just what exactly are we going to do?"

"Save Siesta. Directly."

Tabitha hopped onto the dragon hovering outside the window.

"It'll be fun."

Her flat, unenthusiastic tone was hardly convincing.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)

This is a rather short chapter in my opinion, but I hope it's still interesting enough.

Yes, Leivinia is a Void mage who appears to be a Square class mage because she uses heretical methods to cast magic. Otherwise, her familiar wouldn't be a human, no? But she herself doesn't know it just like Louise in canon until much later.

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.


	6. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5: Repentance (II)**_

 _Might be slightly M-rated, but nothing too explicit.  
_

* * *

 **Part 1**

Count Mott sat inside his room, gazing at the sparkling blue crystal set on a sliver ring placed on his palm with awe.

He slipped the ring onto his right index finger and walked over to the bloody, naked corpse of a girl laid face up, her eyes wide open in horror. He got too excited playing with his new Albion toy Mandy that he accidentally killed her.

Count Mott aimed the ring towards the corpse. The ring glowed blue in response to his will, and the corpse glowed blue as well. The blue glow of the ring and the corpse disappeared after a few minutes of concentration.

Mandy opened her eyes, ceasing to be a corpse. The ring erased all the wounds inflicted on her body, and the girl standing in front of Count Mott with lifeless eyes was now as good as new.

Focusing his will onto the ring again, life returned to her eyes, like her soul had just returned to her body. To be exact, it was a new soul created by Count Mott through the ring which he placed inside the corpse to reanimate it. This magic was forbidden water magic known as Necromancy. The sheer power of this ring made the process almost effortless. It would normally take many, many years of study and practice to even achieve half of what the ring achieved in minutes.

Mandy placed her hands behind her back, smiling coyly.

"Do you really like to see me naked that much, master?" Her voice sounded even sweeter than the finest honey ever existed.

Count Mott remembered Mandy as a uncouth maid who seemed more like the rowdy guards under his payroll despite her trying to be a refined maid working under a noble, so it pleased him to see a very different side of her.

This was the power of the incredible ring known as the Ring of Andvari. However, the ring given to him was not the original Ring of Andvari, but a ring containing enough power from the Ring of Andvari to be used on only one corpse.

"If you get me the Staff of Destruction, this power could be all yours." An Academian girl with a blank expression similar to a reanimated undead with black, shoulder-length hair dressed in a strange pink top and bottom said in a soft, calming voice as she stood beside Count Mott.

"Do you have the original ring with you now?" Count Mott said.

"Why?"

"Because in two hours time, you're going to make the trade with me."

"Do explain. I'm intrigued to know how you made this possible."

And so Count Mott explained how his recent purchase of a new maid named Siesta led to a deal from Leivinia's powerful familiar known as the Imagine Breaker who managed to shut down the Death Zone by proving himself to the Black Bullet. He would let Siesta go in exchange for the Staff of Destruction. Just like the dragon that belonged Leivinia's father, the Imagine Breaker had some form of magic nullifying ability. No matter how powerful the seal placed on the vault, he could just nullify it and grab the Staff of Destruction.

What he did not tell the strange girl who appeared out of nowhere with this incredible magical ring requesting to trade it for the Staff of Destruction was that he was one of the few nobles in Tristain that was secretly funding Reconquista's rebellion in exchange for a higher title and a sizeable amount of land in Albion if they were to succeed in their rebellion. If he were to give the legendary Staff of Destruction said to have enough power to take down an army effortlessly to Reconquista, they would surely succeed, and he would certainly be greatly rewarded for his efforts as well. So when the Imagine Breaker came to him to request that he let Siesta go, he could not let a grand opportunity slip away from him.

And what a coincidence that he would have the Staff of Destruction in about two hours for him to trade it for this ring which possessed a power so incredible that he must have it no matter what. Imagine all the girls he could revive after he had fun with into a brand new person where he could have fun with again.

"Why the two hours time limit? How well do you know the Imagine Breaker? Are you sure that his nullifying ability is so powerful that he could meet the timing you stated?" Her voice remained soft and calm mixed with genuine curiosity. Does this human really know enough about his power to conclude that the Imagine Breaker would succeed in stealing the Staff of Destruction in two hours?

"The two hours time limit was to give him some pressure so that he could steal it as fast as possible. I may not know much about his power, but he'd somehow find a way to meet the timing if he truly wants to save Siesta."

"I shall return in two hours to make the trade."

The girl named Takitsubo Rikou leaped out of the window into the darkness of the nearby forest.

Given how unreasonable Count Mott's terms of exchange with the Imagine Breaker appeared to be, the probability of her successfully making the trade with Count Mott was reduced to an estimated 30%. It was far more likely that the Imagine Breaker would interpret it as an impossible mission meant to just drive him away from saving Siesta rather than a serious deal. Why didn't he phrase his terms of exchange in a more reasonable manner, such as two or three days? That would increase the probability of success to an estimated 70% instead of a measly 30%.

Disappointing.

Humans can be so stupid at times.

Maybe she should just find a professional thief to steal the staff instead.

Surely they would be much more intelligent than those short-sighted, impatient nobles.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Touma never knew how scary it was to look down while sitting on top of a blue dragon about the size of a truck soaring through the night sky. He was not sitting inside a flying, closed box like an aeroplane, protected by the sides of the box, but a flying box with three sides missing, leaving only the base for him to standing on. The wind that kept pounding on his face threatened to knock him off the dragon made the experience even more scarier.

"Afraid?" Tabitha said without looking back. Was Tabitha so observant to the point where she could feel his fear without even looking at him?

"Unlike you mages, I don't have a levitate spell to use in case I fall. Is dragon riding even safe? I feel like I could fall off any mome-"

Touma frantically clutched onto the blue dragon's scales, bracing against a particularly strong gust of wind that would have knocked him off if he hadn't reacted in time.

"Hold firmly. Then you'll never fall. You did it."

"Ah, so that's your secret... wait, how did you know I was holding the scale of your dragon?!" Touma said, incredulously. Not even once did Tabitha even look back, so how did she know?

"Familiar bond. Be gentle with Slyphid. Don't hold it too tightly."

"I see... I think Leivinia mentioned it once. Sorry about that, Slyphid."

She did mention that familiars were able to give their master some sort of an enchantment, such as being able to see and hear what the familiar sees and hear as well. Was that what Tabitha meant by familiar bond?

"Slyphid's hungry. She wants you. Be her supper snack?" Tabitha said.

Touma gulped. "You're kidding, right? Dragons eat people?! And why of all people me?!"

"Because you hurt her."

Was Slyphid the kind of dragon who would hold grudges despite his apology and decide to make eating Kamijou Touma its number one priority till the day it dies?

This was made scarier by the fact that he was sitting on the dragon. If Slyphid really wanted to eat him, she could do so effortlessly by shaking him off before swallowing him whole in one fell swoop.

"Um, Tabitha... I'm sure you can convince your dragon that eating me is a bad idea. I'm not delicious at all. My diet has been cup noodles, plain bread and water for months. As they say, you are what you eat, so the taste of my meat is going to taste horrible."

"Cup noodles is bad for health. Lacking in essential nutrients. Can't cook a proper meal?"

"Well, I don't earn much as a student in the first place, and my misfortune isn't helping at all. If I was just a bit luckier, I wouldn't be stuck with such a plain diet. Honestly, there's a limit how much a human can stand the taste of cup noodles and plain bread. Such misfortune."

"Pity. Never on time for a supermarket sale?"

Touma let out an even louder sigh, "Exactly! Do you even have any idea how cheap those mushrooms and rice they were on discount?!" He realized something strange about what Tabitha said. "Wait, you have supermarkets in this world?"

Tabitha shook her head, "Books."

"Like the book Leivinia has about Academia?"

"That's mine. She borrowed it."

"Are you like Leivinia's only friend in this entire magic academy? She doesn't seem to have a lot of friends."

Leivinia seemed like she could have been able to make more friends if she was willing to let go of her hatred towards nobles. It was odd how she was also a noble, but has a hatred towards other nobles like a commoner. Maybe she would tell him why someday.

"Acquaintances."

So both Leivinia and Tabitha were acquaintances after all. Touma thought. But it was strange how he never saw the both of them talking to each other. Did they fall out with each other due to some reason?

Only the roaring sound of the wind remained as they fell into silence.

"Still angry at Kirche?" Tabitha said, breaking the silence.

"Kind of, but I can't exactly blame her for that. It's the culture here for nobles to treat commoners like dirt so sometimes nobles can go overboard. I thought Germania might be different, but even they don't value commoner's lives that much."

He was not a lawyer, so he didn't know what exactly was the lawful punishment for assault in his world, but it definitely wasn't death sentence. At most, the perpetrator would just go to jail for some time for a few months.

"True."

Count Mott's mansion came into view from a distance.

Tabitha's plan was simple. It was a plan that didn't seem to fit her personality. Normally, a quiet and reserved girl like Tabitha would not be so reckless. If anything, this was something more like what that arrogant Leivinia would think of.

Tabitha muttered a spell, and swung her staff towards a window which shattered into pieces.

She leaped off the dragon floating downwards into the guards gathered below when they heard a loud noise around the area.

The dragon continued flying towards the shattered window, and Touma jumped inside.

He was now at the second level corridor where he could see the entrance below him, and to his left and right were corridors filled with cryptic paintings by the walls even he could come up with inside, but many would pay millions for it. A gust of wind from the shattered window behind Touma knocked down two golden vases placed on each side of the corridor.

The plan was simple.

Barge in, knock out everyone in the way, grab Siesta, and escape.

There was just one problem.

The mansion was a very big place, so where exactly did Count Mott hide Siesta?

* * *

 **Part 3**

Tabitha stood in the garden outside of Count Mott's house.

Around her were guards lying unconscious from the Air Hammer spell she cast. It was a spell that hardened the air around her into an invisible solid like a hammer which she then slammed it onto the unsuspecting guards.

It was true that her reckless plan was not something she would come up with, nor something she liked, but there was not enough time to allow Siesta to be saved without a single scratch in a peaceful manner. Knowing nobles like Count Mott, most probably they would renege on their promises and will be prepared for any sudden retaliation from them. From the moment Touma left the mansion, Count Mott might have already made preparations to welcome them.

Dealing with the guards was the easy part. What lies inside the house was the harder part.

Tabitha entered the house, and was surprised to see the lobby devoid of any people. One would expect a maid or two walking around, but there was nobody. Was this house now transformed into a trap which they both walked inside by Count Mott? However, she could not detect any traces of magic around her, so if this house was a trap, it was not magical in nature.

"What now?" Touma said from the platform above the lobby. "This mansion is really big."

He was right. The mansion was a very big place, so where exactly did Count Mott hide Siesta?

If Count Mott has the habit of purchasing maids for his own pleasure, he must have a place inside this mansion for them. It must also be hidden because having sexual relations with your servants and maids was considered illegal by the law... though it was not enforced as much as she would like it to be. However, searching the rooms for Siesta felt like a good start.

Tabitha leaped onto the platform Touma was at. She pointed her staff towards the right of the corridor, and a few doors flew open. There was no one inside. She continued further inside the corridor with Touma following behind, conjuring air hammers which slammed each door open. Just like the rooms before, all of them were empty.

When she slammed open the last door, they were greeted with an unsightly view.

On a bed, two girls wearing skimpy maid attires were fondling each other, their eyes filled with lust as they moaned with pleasure. Lying on the wall was another girl, naked with glassy eyes, sucking on her finger like it was a lollipop.

Thinking it might be the effect of some strange magic cast upon them, Touma rushed towards the glassy eyed girl and placed his right hand on her head.

Nothing happened.

He did the same for the two girls fondling each other, but nothing happened. Lost in their pleasure, they had not even noticed their presence inside, let alone Touma touching them with their right hand.

If his right hand did not work, then whatever that was happening to them was not supernatural in origin.

Touma gritted his teeth in anger, "What the fuck did that Count Mott do to those girls?!"

It must be some kind of drug made with magic that he fed to those girls. That must be the reason why his right hand did not work.

"Mind altering potion, maybe." Tabitha said, with bitterness that edged her voice.

"Do you know any water spell that might cure them?"

"No. Let's go. Antidote is the only known cure. No time to make one."

Cursing his inability to save those drugged girls, Touma swore he would obliterate Count Mott with his fists if they were to unfortunately meet again.

Exiting the room, they found guards with their sword raised in front of them, filling up the corridor in rows of two.

"I kind of expected the both of you here. Barging into a noble's property to save an insignificant maid?" Count Mott said, floating behind the guards with a nasty smirk. "If you're wondering about the girls inside that room, I actually planned to dispose of them, but they're too pretty for me to be disposed just like that, so I kept them inside, hoping that a new potion might correct their mental state into something more desirable."

"What exactly did you do to those girls?!" Touma glared at Count Mott, growling. If it wasn't for those guards in the way, he would have charged forth and hurled his fist towards that disgusting face of his.

"Just some mind altering potions... which didn't work as I expected it to work. I'd love to hire water mages as skilled as the Montmorency to make those for me, but unfortunately it's illegal to make those."

Tabitha muttered an incarnation before slamming the base of her staff on the ground.

Ice shards materialized out of the air, and rained down upon the guards.

Count Mott erected an icy barrier over the guards with his wand, shielding them from the ice shards.

"Don't take me lightly. I may be Line class, but it doesn't mean I'm weak." Count Mott said.

His affinity was with Water, so when it came to Water spells, there are some which he could cast it as well as an Triangle class despite being a Line class mage. Erecting an icy barrier that could withstand a Triangle class spell was one of them.

The icy shards stopped midair.

Tabitha waved her staff, and the icy shards flew upwards instead. Huge concrete rocks poured down onto the guards at alarming speeds, and Count Mott found his barrier weakening from the impact.

Instead of increasing the strength of her Windy Icicle spell to break the barrier, the impact from falling rocks accelerated by a simple Line class Wind spell was more efficient and more powerful. After all, it takes more willpower to increase the strength of a Triangle class spell then to cast a simple Line class spell.

Before the guards could even take a step forward to stop Tabitha, the barrier fell apart, knocking them unconscious from the raining rocks.

Touma and Tabitha ran inside the room that they exited from. She whistled for her blue dragon Slyphid inside, and they hopped onto its back through the room's window.

Slyphid flew towards the entrance of the mansion, and they both hopped off.

A gust of wind from Tabitha's staff blew the entrance door open.

At the lobby was Count Mott with his wand in hand, and a small army of guards numbering around ten behind him.

Tabitha leaped up towards the platform above the lobby, and went towards the left corridor. She was going to find Siesta and bring her to safety, while Touma would distract Count Mott until she arrives to bring Touma to safety as well.

"I'm going to beat you so hard, you'll never wake up the same again." Touma said.

It was such a relief that he no longer had to hold himself back from punching him.

"Let's see what you're capable of then, Imagine Breaker."

* * *

 **Part 4**

Was this spiky-haired boy known as the Imagine Breaker really Leivinia's familiar who shut down the Death Zone by proving himself to the Black Bullet?

Count Mott had expected this boy to unleash some kind of an incredible magic to defeat him in a few moves, but other than being able to dodge and negate his water spears with his right hand swiftly, there was nothing else noteworthy.

Honestly, he had been afraid of the Imagine Breaker for nothing. In the end, other than the blasphemous magic negating ability in his right hand, he was as powerless as a commoner.

Count Mott chuckled as he watched Touma going around the lobby in circles dodging and negating multiple water spears fired at him in all directions. Glass, wood and even metal fragments struck Touma's body as the spears ripped through the ornaments displayed in the lobby.

"And to think you're the one who proved yourself to the Black Bullet? I get it now. You proved yourself to the Black Bullet because you were able to bypass her magical, invincible barrier with your right hand. Other than your right hand, you're nothing but a mere commoner!"

The water spears split into smaller icy shards flying towards Touma. He turned away, and threw his body into the living room over the sofa and hid under a coffee table, using it as a cover from the raining shards. Stinging pain ran from his back across the rest of his body. He did not dodge fast enough to avoid having his back being pierced by those icy shards.

The raining icy shards was too dense for him to simply ignore Count Mott and go straight at his face.

"Running away?" Count Mott said mockingly as he moved closer towards the sofa, the icy shards still raining relentlessly in front of him. The guards started following behind, but he waved them away. He could handle that weak coward all by himself.

Meanwhile, all Touma had to do was to buy time for Tabitha to find Siesta, so he was content with wasting Count Mott's time by running away. However, the urge to punch his face refused to go away. What he had done was unforgivable. Maybe if he could find an opening... no, he will find an opening. He had wasted enough time dodging and negating his water spears, and hiding inside this stupid table.

Perhaps the materials used in making the table was strong, but the icy shards was doing a lousy job as his table shelter remained firm and steady with no signs of it collapsing anytime soon.

If the icy shards was doing a lousy job, wouldn't Count Mott use another spell? Like a spell that would crush his shelter instantly? Since no mage in this world can cast two spells at once, he must stop using his icy shard rain spell and switch into another spell. The few lectures he attended with Leivinia fortunately did not go to waste.

He found his opening.

The icy shards stopped raining. Count Mott summoned a water whip which split the sofa and the coffee table Touma was hiding at, apart into two.

Touma sprang up and grabbed the water whip, negating it.

He clenched his right fist, darting towards Count Mott who quickly threw a few water spears towards him. The distance between them was more than a meter apart, but he was so fast that there was not enough time for a complicated spell like that icy shard spell to stop him.

Touma negated the water spear in front of him, while ignoring the rest which grazed past his arms and face.

"If you really think you can do what you want as a noble, then let me break that illusion of yours!"

He swung his right fist towards Count Mott's disgusting face, knocking him to the ground. Touma followed up by stomping on his wrist, forcing him to loosen his grip on his wand, and kicked the wand far away enough to prevent Count Mott from retrieving it.

Without his wand, Count Mott was as powerless as a commoner. He was no longer a threat.

Touma yanked a dazed Count Mott up by the back of his collar, and pressed a glass shard from a shattered teapot against his neck in front of the guards with their swords raised in tension.

"Move even just an inch, and I'll kill him."

All he had to do now was wait for Tabitha to find Siesta, and save him from this stalemate.

* * *

 **Part 5**

Siesta was chained to a stone wall inside a place that looked like an hidden dungeon with a table and chairs placed in front of her, and burning torches attached on the walls lit up the area.

After being forced to drink a cup of tea prepared by Count Mott, she fell unconscious and woke up trapped in this situation. Fortunately, her clothes were still intact. Count Mott had not done anything to her yet.

But soon, she knew, Count Mott would appear and do unspeakable things to her body.

The thought of that brought tears to Siesta's eyes.

It was only fair that she pay for her crime. Assaulting a noble unprovoked meant death. The Imagine Breaker may not be a noble, but he had done the nobles such a great favor that his status was probably elevated to a noble.

"Please save me..."

In this dark, unknown place, would anyone hear her small, whimpering cry for help?

"Please save me..."

It was useless, wasn't it? How could anyone possibly hear her? In the end, a hero appearing out of nowhere to save her was something only possible in her favorite fiction novels. Reality was not that convenient.

That was why Siesta gasped in shock when she saw Tabitha appearing in front of her, cutting the chains open with magic.

"Ho-How did you know where I was?!"

Ignoring Siesta, Tabitha grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her behind towards the exit.

When Siesta exited the dungeon-like place, she found herself inside Count Mott's study room. So that place was a hidden dungeon inside the mansion. For a while Siesta thought she had been trapped inside some unknown place where no one will ever find her again.

"Why did you save me?!"

Nothing was making sense to her. Why was a noble like Tabitha saving an insignificant maid like her? Don't they know how much trouble she would get for barging into a noble's property to save her?

Tabitha placed two fingers to her lips, and made a loud whistle.

After a few seconds, a dragon appeared in front of the window. Touma was riding on top of it with cuts all over his body, and ice shards embedded in his back.

"Tabitha, is Siesta okay?" Touma said.

"Unharmed, and untouched."

Touma let out a sigh of relief, "Glad we made it in time."

"Wh-Why...?" Siesta trembled, shocked at the miracle that was happening in front of her. "Wh-Why are the both of you saving me?! Don't you know the consequences from barging into a noble's property?! You two will be in prison for a very long time! I'm a criminal who hurled a boiling porridge at the esteemed Imagine Breaker! It's not worth it for my sake!"

To that, Touma responded with a smile.

"Being able to punch that disgusting Count Mott was worth everything we risked to save you, and I never hated you for that."

* * *

 **Part 6**

In a small, open field with trees surrounding them, Siesta sat at a corner away from the Imagine Breaker and Tabitha as they were cooking deer meat over a fire Tabitha made with magic.

There was no way both the Imagine Breaker and Tabitha would get away with this. News would soon arrive at the Royal Court of Tristain, and they would be charged for illegal trespassing of a noble's property, and theft while Count Mott would just claim her back. How far can the fear of encountering the Black Bullet in this area near Tarbes where it had recently set up a Death Zone closed down by the Imagine Breaker stop Count Mott or the Royal Court from pursing them? Probably not much.

Tears flowed down from her cheeks.

Why was she always the one being saved? Why was she always the one bringing trouble to others?

Just some time ago, because of a misunderstanding caused by a perfume given to her as a reward from Leivinia, the Imagine Breaker accepted a duel with Guiche to resolve the issue.

Yes, he was strong and defeated Guiche easily, but if it wasn't for her, none of that would have happened. He would not have to risk his life by being exposed as an Academian heretic from fighting Guiche if it was not for her.

Siesta heard Touma joking about how excited he was living a new life away from that demanding and dangerous master of hers.

How could he still be so positive about his situation?! Why he was still smiling despite a life of hardship awaiting him either as a fugitive or a prisoner because of his decision?!

Her sobbing grew louder.

Siesta remembered how her eldest sister Sakuya smiled as she vanished into nothing, glad that she managed to save her from a group of orcs which once assaulted their peaceful village many years ago.

Time manipulation was not a power one should use freely and carelessly. Her parents often warned Sakuya about the consequences that could happen, and she took the advice. She took the advice until that fateful day when the orcs arrived. To save her from being killed by the orcs, Sakuya used her powers, knowing very well about the consequences.

Because of her powerlessness, Siesta pursed her lips in frustration as she wiped tears away, bad things happen to others. It was the same for her eldest sister Sakuya, and now it was the same for the Imagine Breaker and Tabitha.

"Don't cry." A mature, feminine voice said. It sounded a lot like Sakuya, but Siesta could tell the difference.

She turned to face a figure covered completely in black, with only the eyes being the only visible feature of the figure, seated about an arm or two length away from her.

"Tell me what's going on. I'll help you if it's within my means." The mature, feminine voice coming from the black figure continued.

Siesta found herself being pulled away by Tabitha with her staff raised towards the black figure. What was going on? Was this figure a dangerous woman? While her black overall covering almost every single part of her body was suspicious, she did not sound very dangerous to her.

"Aren't you the Black Bullet?" Touma said, standing beside Tabitha, confused.

"Yuriko." The black figure corrected. "You forgot my name?"

Tabitha tightened the grip on her staff in response to Yuriko's threatening tone.

It was odd how Yuriko seemed to be directing her threat towards Tabitha instead of Touma, Siesta thought. Wasn't he the one who forgot her name? There must be some history between the two unknown to her, but more importantly she had to defuse the tension fast before it turned into a ugly fight!

"Sorry about that, Yuriko." Touma smiled in an attempt to reduce the growing hostility between the two. "It's just that I was taught that it wasn't wise in this world to refer to each other by their Academian names. That's why that maid over there who is clearly Academian uses a non Academian name called Siesta."

"Oh." Yuriko shot Siesta a quick glance and nodded, her tone no longer threatening, but understanding. "Yes, I'm the Black Bullet that you people refer to me as. I just don't like being called by that title. Just call me Yuriko, okay?"

Siesta heaved a big sigh of relief at the tension between Yuriko and Tabitha melting away as Yuriko turned her attention towards Touma. Then, a realization crashed upon her like a giant wave.

"Yo-You... are really the hero Black Bullet?! The Black Bullet that set up a Death Zone near my village?! Is that really you?!"

Her body froze in anxiety as she felt her heartbeat grow faster and faster. Standing in front of her was a legendary hero she only heard stories about. A hero so powerful that just her presence alone could cause a noble to collapse in complete fear.

"Yes. That's me. Nice to meet you, Siesta." Yuriko said. "Now will you tell me what's going on?"

It took some time for Siesta to calm down before she started explaining about her incident with Count Mott, and how both the Imagine Breaker and Tabitha broke into his house to save her from him. Even if they saved her from Count Mott, he would most likely hunt her down, and charge her two saviors with trespassing of noble's property and theft.

"Siesta would have been raped by him if it wasn't for us." Touma added. "He's so disgusting that he feed girls with mind altering drugs to turn them into sex slaves... not to mention he almost killed a commoner once."

Yuriko vanished into the trees. Her mature, feminine voice reverberated through the air.

"Consider your problems solved."

* * *

 **Part 7**

Count Mott cursed his luck as he looked over the damages caused by his battle with the Imagine Breaker in the lobby and his living room. All because of one insignificant maid named Siesta, and he hadn't even got the chance to play with her because he actually expected the Imagine Breaker to bring the Staff of Destruction in exchange for her. On hindsight, he should have given Siesta a quick ride if he knew this was going to happen.

What upset him the most was his defeat to that Imagine Breaker who only managed to survive the Black Bullet with just a mere nullifying ability on his right hand, and nothing else.

His defeat was caused by his carelessness from putting himself too close to the Imagine Breaker, but neither did he expect him to be so fast that he could not find the time to cast the icy shard spell which seemed to be an effective spell against him. How humiliating it was to be rendered powerless by an special Academian, and to be held hostage by a broken piece of his treasured teapot against his neck.

Tomorrow, he would get the Royal Guards after the Imagine Breaker and the blue-haired bespectacled girl for trespassing and theft, but for now he would enjoy the remaining night and get everything repaired tomorrow as well.

"Guards, get me Sally."

The two guards beside him nodded, and left for his secret dungeon where he kept girls whose mind had not been tainted by their master's potions. After a short while, the two guards reappeared with a blindfolded, naked girl named Sally with her limbs bounded by ropes, and held her upright in front of Count Mott.

Count Mott lightly stroked Sally's breasts, and he felt his foul mood improving almost instantly.

"Please! I beg you! Let me go!" Tears dripped from her blindfold. Her screaming were music to Count Mott's ears. After such a humiliating incident, this was what he needed to feel better. The thrill of being in power. No matter how much those girls resist his power, their body would always betray them and surrender to his power.

"Oh, I'll let you go." Count Mott whispered into her ear with a grin before untying her blindfold. It would not be fun if she could not also see how pleasurable it was to be filled up with the seeds of a noble. "But after I have some fun with you."

He snapped his fingers, motioning for another two guards behind him. "Spread her legs."

A black figure flashed past that two guards, and they exploded into a bloody mess with their organs spluttered across the walls. The two guards hoisting Sally upright met the same fate as them. Sally fell to the ground with a thud. A flying kidney slapped her face, and blood showering her body.

Her horrified scream at this gruesome scene no longer sounded like music to Count Mott.

There was only one person he knew who was capable of such an act.

Standing in front of him was a figure completely covered in black except for her eyes.

"B-Black Bullet?!" Count Mott stood rooted to the ground, unable to look away from the black figure, afraid that this was the end of him if it disappeared from his view.

"You're indeed as horrible as what he said."

It was a calm, mature, feminine voice, her tone satisfied.

It was also the last thing he heard before the black figure disappeared from his view, and his consciousness snatched away the next moment.

* * *

 **Part 8**

Behind a large, golden gate was a large area surrounded by magnificent buildings with the grandest, and the tallest building facing directly towards the gate.

A solider stood guard at one end of the gate, while another solider stood guard at the other end.

They were both Royal Guards doing sentry night duty, preventing intruders from entering the Royal Palace of Tristain.

"You must be kidding me." The solider muttered. His partner who was supposed to be guarding the other end of the gate fell asleep while standing upright. It was an incredible, but useful feat every sentry guard should master.

The night sky was cloudy, so he could not see any moon. What a disappointment. Standing guard in this desolate area at night was extremely boring. At least he could take away some of the boredom by admiring the moon.

He heard something rolling on the concrete ground.

It was something that took away whatever boredom he felt throughout his whole duty.

The solider bit his lips, suppressing his urge to let out a scream at the horrifying thing lying on the ground. He was a trained solider ready for war, not a coward who would scream like a little girl at the sight of something like that.

He recognised the face belonging to the decapitated head with a trail of blood behind it lying on the ground.

The Imperial Messenger of the Royal Court of Tristian, Count Igor Pelletier Mott.

A mature, feminine voice rang out of nowhere, seemingly from all directions.

"Justice has been dispensed by the Black Bullet."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And that's the end of the short Count Mott arc, with Count Mott being well, Count Mott. And Touma finally got to punch his face. And like what Lavick hoped, somebody did kill Count Mott in the end.

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)

Hope the chapter was interesting enough.

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.


	7. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6: Repentance (III)_  
**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Seated in a carriage adorned with exquisite sculptures, Henrietta opened the curtains to be greeted with cheerful commoners.

"Long live Tristain! Long live Princess Henrietta!"

Those were the cheers that could be heard from the commoners as her carriage moved past the roads paved with pink flowers. It might be her imagination, but today seemed like a particularly happy day for them.

Three days ago, the Royal Messenger of Tristain, and also the one responsible for sending Leivinia Birdway, the princess of Albion, and her familiar the Imagine Breaker to shut down the Death Zone in less than a day, Count Igor Pelletier Mott, was brutally murdered by the Black Bullet. Not only that, his mansion was reduced into rubbles, and most of his soldiers killed.

It was an unusual act from this infamous figure, and the nobles were once again afraid that they would end up in the same fate as Count Mott. Perhaps that was why those commoners seemed to be so happy today. What does it say about the nobles of Tristain if a murderer like the Black Bullet was a hero in the eyes of those commoners?

Henrietta shook her head. Nobles from her grandfather and father's era were true nobles who made it their duty to protect those commoners with their magic, unlike nobles nowadays who abuse their power in many unspeakable manners.

Count Mott was one of those nobles who got away with his atrocities because of his political connections with those higher ranked nobles in court. She was not blind to what those nobles were up to, but she was only a princess learning how to be a ruler under the 'guidance' of Cardinal Mazarin, not Founder Brimir.

Even so, the Black Bullet should not be taking the law into its own hands. It was Academians like the Black Bullet that made it difficult for her to promote goodwill between the nobles and the Academians in Tristain.

The most troubling issue was the reported appearance of the Imagine Breaker and the mysterious blue-haired noble known as Tabitha before Count Mott's death at his mansion by the surviving soldiers.

Speculations were rifle in court regarding their relationship between the Black Bullet. Some say that it was the Imagine Breaker who asked the Black Bullet to kill Count Mott because of some unknown feud between the two. Others were convinced that the Imagine Breaker must have betrayed his master Leivinia Birdway and was working together with the Black Bullet under Reconquista. Killing Count Mott must be some kind of their plan to invade Tristain next. Almost everyone was convinced that their statements were lies despite having no evidence to prove otherwise.

In any case, there goes her chance in improving the relationship between the nobles and the Academians.

Henrietta rubbed her temples, sighing.

"Are you alright?" A gentle voice said.

It was Patricia Birdway, a girl who possessed an alarmingly similar face as her sister Leivinia. The both of them had shoulder-length blonde hair, but Leivinia's hair had more volume than Patricia.

Today was Familiar Day, and Patricia wanted to visit her sister Leivinia studying at the Tristain's Academy Of Magic where the event was held at, so Henrietta decided to offer her a lift there.

Henrietta nodded with a tired smile, "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

She could help but admire Patricia. At just only twelve years old, Patricia managed to become one of the best magic researcher in Albion. Currently, she was working in Oriz Magic Academy located here in Tristain together with one of their best researcher Eleonore De La Valliere learning more about Earth magic.

"How has your studies been coming along with Eleonore?"

"Excellent! I really, really enjoyed my lessons with her!"

Patrica took out her wand, and cast a silencing spell around the carriage to prevent anyone from spying on them. Her enthusiatic expression turned serious.

Her voice dropped into a whisper. "Eleonore is crazy. I don't know how her colleagues are still alive, but I'm reaching my limit soon. Save me."

Henrietta broke into laughter, "I've heard many interesting things about her, about how she resembles her mother Duchess Karin in terms of personality, but I'm sure she means well."

"She uses a whip."

"Does she hit you with it?" Henrietta said concernedly.

"No... but that's not the point! A normal person would never even think of using a whip on another person! Eleonore is not normal!"

Henrietta placed her hand on the shoulder of a terrified Patricia to comfort her. "She just uses that whip to scare people. Don't worry about it."

"If only I could be half as courageous as my sister." Patricia sighed. Then again, it was easy for anyone to be courageous if they were a square class mage capable of destroying an entire village. She was just an average Triangle Class Water mage unlike her twin sister Leivinia who was a powerful Square Class mage.

Recently, Leivinia had even fought the infamous Black Bullet together with her familiar to save Tristain and succeeded! However, the evil Gandalfr leading the rebel group Reconquista took advantage of her weakened state after the battle and tried to assassinate her. Leivinia survived the attempt, but ended up in a coma.

Her current situation was not positive. The healers there said it was a miracle that they managed to save Leivinia from dying. As she was still unconscious after so many days, she was probably stuck in a permanent coma because the damage to her brain was so great.

The carriage came to a stop.

They were now outside of Tristain's Academy Of Magic.

Patricia uttered a small prayer to God.

Please grant me the power to save my sister.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Gathered around a large, rectangular wooden table inside a room were nobles from Albion and Tristain supporting Reconquista.

Seated at one end was Takitsubo Rikou, the representative and secretary of the legendary Gandalfr leading the rebel group in Albion. It did bothered them that Gandalfr was an Academian, but the runes on his left hand and the skills he had demonstrated undeniably proved that he was truly Gandalfr, the legendary familiar who once belonged to Founder Birimir himself.

So why did the legendary familiar fail to kill a single girl?

Duke Clauvres Deighton, a polished man around his forties, glared at Rikou. "We would like an explanation for the Gandflar's failure." He kept his tone even, although one could still sense some anger from the slight variations of his tone.

"Are you saying that the legendary Gandflar who would lead us on a holy crusade to fight the elves could not kill a mere girl? "Count Guillaume Riqueti, a man with a similar aura as Clauvres with a moustache that further accentuated his refinedness said.

"Leivinia is no mere girl. However, I acknowledge that it was unforgivable for the Gandflar to have failed. I will correct the mistake." Rikou said, her voice never strayed away from being soft and calm despite the increasingly intense pressure from the nobles. As being calm was the most optimal emotional state, she was programmed to be only capable of being calm.

General Tomides slammed the table with an open palm. "Well, how are you going to correct the mistake then?!"

Reconquista was on the verge of conquering the whole of Albion after they took down four more county, driving the Albion Royal Family into a corner with just eight county left to defend themselves.

However, the unexpected appearance of that blasphemous existence Kanzaki Kaori together with the incredible firepower support provided by the royal battle airship HMS Vanguard had destroyed their certain victory over Albion. Reconquista could not risk another unexpected appearance who could turn the tides around like Kanzaki Kaori, so they must eliminate Leivinia Birdway.

"Mugino Shizuri." Rikou said.

Tomides fell silent. She was a notorious mercenary from Germania feared by many, including him. Known to be relentless in battle, Shizuri would never stop until her target was dead. Another general from Germania like him once sent his whole troop against Shizuri. He and his entire troop ended up dead with Shizuri still alive. Since then, the name Mugino Shizuri was enough to make any noble pause in fear. Even her mercenary team was reputed to be one of the best in Germania.

"Fine." Tomides grunted.

"I hope we will not be disappointed again." Clauvres said before leaving the room together with a few other nobles.

Why are those nobles so short-sighted and impatient? Rikou thought as she observed more and more frustrated nobles taking their leave. Are they frustrated because of their impatience? There wasn't even a need to kill Leivinia yet, but those impatient nobles insisted that she die as soon as possible. All they can see are the threats to the victory that would bring them glory and power, but never thinking about whether it was a necessary threat to be removed.

However, that was fine.

As long as they remain moving like how she wanted them to move like obedient tools, that was fine.

* * *

 **Part 3**

Just the name alone, and the people coming in and out from the Paradise Love Inn located in Almere, a small city nearby the northwest border of Tristain, should be enough to tell how indecent this place was.

Frenda Seivelun, a girl with long blonde hair dressed in a blue, long-sleeved sailor top and white skirt coupled with a matching blue beret, sighed as she took a seat inside the inn.

Girls as young as her dressed in outfits emphasizing their figures in a vulgar manner were running about, serving drinks to customers, chatting and flirting with them. The music from the crude wooden stage in the center was loud and noisy. She never understood the point behind it. It just makes conversation difficult. They should really do away with the music.

"Good music. Don't you super think so?"

It was her friend Kinuhata Saiai who had a brown bobcut wearing a ragged red top matched with a mini pant exposing most of her slender legs, seated at the opposite end as she closed her eyes momentarily, enjoying the music.

"No. How in the world is this loud noise enjoyable?" Frenda said.

"It kinda makes you super want to have a couple of shots and just dance around all night. Don't you super feel the energy inside that music?"

"I certainly have the energy to drop a bomb to shut those instruments up. In the end, music from instruments played by magic is horrible."

Oh, it was easy enough. All Frenda had to do was to slip into her skirt pocket for a bomb disguised as a doll, but the unwanted attention was probably not worth it.

Saiai snapped her fingers enthusiastically, motioning for a waitress dressed in that indecent dress almost exposing her entire chest and panties.

"Give me a bottle of your best hard liquor!" Saiai said.

"I'd like a few cups of liquor diluted with fruit punch."

The waitress nodded with a smile as she ran off towards the bar at a corner.

After a torturous journey travelling from Germania to Tristain, Frenda wanted a quiet place where she could enjoy her drink in peace. In the end, her opinion never mattered as Saiai simply dragged her inside the nearest inn she could find without being bothered by how indecent it looked.

There was an empty area around the crude wooden stage, probably for people to dance, but a barbaric scene greeted Frenda.

"Isn't Tristain supposed to be more civilized than Germania?" Frenda said, directing Saiai's attention towards the scene.

At that area, a finely dressed noble surrounded by a group of thugs waved his wand to summon water streams, chaining an Academian girl to the ground. Her clothing was not the same as those waitress, so she should be someone unrelated to this place.

The group of thugs started assaulting the defenseless girl chained to the wall. Even the noble joined in the fun as well.

Saiai smiled nonchalantly, pouring herself a cup of hard liquor as soon as the waitress left their orders on the table.

"That's interesting. Nobles acting like barbarians in Tristain? And they say Germania is barbaric!"

Saiai broke into laughter as she watched the scene grew even more brutal. The noble gestured for the thugs to move aside. He fired fist-sized ice boulders at her, leaving gruesome gaping wounds on the girl's bloodied body.

A scene like that happened in Germania so many times that Frenda grew numb to it, but this was not Germania. Why was everyone ignoring such an act like it happened too many times for them to be surprised?

"Speaking of which," Saiai said, turning her attention back to Frenda instead of that amusing play, "Can you super stop with the diluted alcohol? Are you super like five or something? Drink something more appropriate of your age."

Frenda twitched in annoyance, "Stop insulting my preferences every time we come to a place like this! And are we seriously going to just ignore that poor defenseless girl?"

The girl had been abused so badly that her face was almost unrecognizable as a human being. Germania may be a barbaric country, but it did not mean that the people over there were heartless cowards.

"If everybody is super ignoring them, then I super think it's just a culture of Tristain. It would be super rude to not respect that."

A thug grabbed Saiai's shoulder from behind. She turned around, intrigued. It was a thug from that group torturing the girl.

"Why don't you join that Academian girl over there?" The thug grinned, "You look pretty cute as well."

"Is it a culture over here in Tristain for Academians to be beaten up like that?" Saiai said.

"How about we answer those questions one by one as you fucking lay there like that dirty piece of trash over there!"

Saiai grabbed hold of his wrist, and flipped his entire body over with just one hand, slamming him onto the table she was seated at.

All eyes were now on the Academian heretic sporting a brown bobcut wearing a ragged red top matched with a mini pant.

Terrified waitress and patrons who did not wish to get involved stampeded through the open door, leaving only the group of thugs and that finely dressed noble approaching Saiai.

Frenda picked up her beret as she stood up, having being forced to throw herself sideways to dodge the human turned sledgehammer slamming into the table she was seated at.

"What happened to respecting their culture?" Frenda said sarcastically as she adjusted the beret on her head, "That was rather rude of you."

Saiai cracked her knuckles and winked at Frenda. "That's super just cultural exchange."

"So you're with that heretic over there?" The noble smiled threateningly at Frenda.

Frenda shrugged her shoulders, "Unfortunately yes. Basically, we're travellers from Germania and this is our first time here."

The noble took out his wand, "I only want that Academian heretic dead, so get out of the way if you don't want to be killed as well."

"Saiai, did you offend this guy or something?" Frenda said.

"Hmm..." Saiai frowned, "I don't know this guy, and why is he super calling me a heretic? Is that a Tristain thing?"

"Beats me. I'm as equally confused as you."

"Enough! Stop playing dumb!" The noble growled, waving his wand around to fire multiple water spears. He no longer had the patience to listen to their nonsense.

Both Frenda and Saiai weaved through the spears, moving away from each other in an inverted V-like pattern.

The thugs were just like the barbarians in Germania. Amateur fighters who rely on brute strength and a few simple combat techniques.

Frenda ducked a overhead fist before hurling a blade concealed inside her skirt towards the first thug. The blade plunged into his neck, and he fell to the ground choking in pain.

She swung her foot upwards, firing a blade concealed in her shoe, piercing through the second thug's face. Flicking her wrist upwards, a blade shot out from her sleeve and pierced through the third thug's neck. Frenda yanked that blade out and hurled it to her left, piercing through the fourth thug's neck.

A water spear grazed through her face, and she dodged a few more incoming spears.

That noble should be somewhere at Triangle class if his water spears were strong enough to knock down Saiai. While the impact from being knocked down did not bother Saiai, his magic was making it difficult for her to move in for the kill.

Frenda took out another blade hidden inside her sailor top, and flung it towards the noble waving his wand about. A water spear knocked her blade away, and she cursed her luck. The trajectory of the spears were too unpredictable.

A water jet sent Saiai crashing towards the staircase behind the noble.

The noble chuckled like a madman as he continued firing water spears around him, "You Academian heretics think you're strong?! All of you are demons sent by the Devil! It's my duty as the Chosen One by our Founder Birimir to vanquish you from Halkegenia!"

What dumb luck to encounter a lunatic mage. Frenda thought. What the fuck is an Academian heretic anyway?

He was the only one still standing with his group of thugs either dead or unconscious from Frenda's blade or from Saiai's fists.

The doll bomb inside Frenda's pocket was her last chance against this lunatic mage.

Saiai looked at Frenda knowingly, and a plan appeared in Frenda's mind.

Saiai charged straight at the mage, dodging and deflecting the water spears with her fists. As deflecting the spears forced Saiai backwards, she attempted to dodge as much as possible. It was still as difficult to get closer to him, but she managed to divert all of his attention towards herself.

Frenda hurled the doll bomb into the air towards the noble, and took cover behind a toppled table.

The bomb landed with a loud thud.

An explosion shook the area, engulfing it with flames.

Wasting no time, Saiai leaped towards the noble who had protected himself against the explosion with a water barrier.

As mages can only use one spell at a time, he could not both protect himself with a water barrier and fire water spears at the same time.

The noble dropped his barrier to fire a few water spears towards Saiai.

Frenda hurled her blade at the same time.

The blade stabbed into the mage's temples, and he howled in pain.

Taking advantage of the delay, Saiai closed in for the kill as she landed her fist across his face, knocking him unconscious.

Saiai stretched her sore arms, taking a deep, satisfied breath before choking on the smoke. "Th-That was super tough."

"Basically, can we just get out of here first?!" Frenda urged Saiai, covering her face with a hand to protect herself from breathing in too much smoke.

"I think we're super trapped... see, the only way out is super blocked by burning pieces of tables and chairs."

The only way out was the way that they entered this inn.

There might be a back door somewhere, but that no longer mattered.

The burning pieces of tables and chairs blocking the exit were blown apart, and two armoured knight appeared, pointing their sword-wands at Saiai.

"Heretic, you're officially under arrest! Surrender, or we'll be forced to kill you on the spot."

Frenda could only hope that they haven't attracted too much attention to the point where it would interfere with their mission.

Their leader Mugino Shizuri was not someone they wished to anger.

* * *

 **Between the Lines 1**

Touma looked over at the street of a city in modern Tokyo around 15 stories below the rooftop he stood at.

In front of him was a mob of angry adults cornering him towards the ledge. All of them believing that his death would put an end to all their misery.

His recent 'victim' was a man who he bumped into while escaping another ambush laid by another mob a couple of days ago. That man died of a mysterious fatal illness which took his life in hours yesterday. Touma knew because the newspapers made sure to publish it as a tragedy caused by his misfortune.

"Jump! Jump! Jump!"

The mob chanted as they continued to corner him towards the ledge.

Touma clenched his fists as he reluctantly moved backwards.

They were armed with knives, baseball bats, shattered glass bottles, and some even had burning torches to burn him alive. Fortunately, firearms were banned in Japan, so that was probably why Touma still found himself alive. No matter how fast his reaction speed was, no human could ever dodge a bullet.

One man from the mob took out a gun.

"That's impossible..." Touma uttered in complete shock. "That's just a fake gun!"

The man fired at the ledge, and a loud sound of the bullet ricocheting off the ledge could be heard.

Firearms were banned in Japan, but staring at his face now was a real gun that could take his life before he could even finish blinking.

If this was the end of him, then Touma would have died a long time ago.

There were shorter buildings surrounding this building.

He leaped over the ledge, and felt the impact threatening to snap his legs into two as he landed on a rooftop of a shorter building.

Touma ran towards the stairs leading to the ground floor of that building. With each step he took, his legs kept protesting in pain, but he was already used to it.

More and more people inside the building gave chase after him after realizing that he was the 'Plague' or 'Jinx' that brought misfortune wherever he went.

Touma cursed his misfortune when he had to cross a passageway to continue down to the ground floor.

He dodged a downward strike from a man's wooden stick, gave a swift kick to his groin area, and took his wooden stick which he dropped in pain.

Like a professional javelin thrower, Touma flung the wooden stick with the blunt end landing right at another man's face, before tripping over a fat woman who probably never exercised a single day of her life.

Thankfully, that was all as Touma made it through the passageway, but the newly gathered mob behind him only increased as he continued downwards.

When he exited the building, a mob twice as large now followed behind him.

The only thing keeping him alive was the law. Although people were convinced that his misfortune was responsible for all the bad things that happened to them, but no one could prove it.

The mob should disperse soon for fear of getting into trouble with the authorities, and it would be another day where Touma managed to survive despite the odds.

He felt a banana slip underneath his feet, and his body lost all sense of balance, forcing him to fall flat down on his face.

Touma heard gunfire shots and a burning, stinging sensation lingered around his back.

He looked down to see his chest stained with blood as he continued running.

This time, it was no longer just his legs protesting in pain. Touma felt his vision flickering between pitch black and a blurry view of his surroundings and his body grew more sluggish by the seconds.

He reached his limit when he no longer could stop his body from collapsing.

Touma saw a blurry image of a man pressing the gun at his forehead.

"Stop it!"

It was a voice of a young girl. He could not see clearly how the girl looked like, but he could tell that she had blonde hair and was about the height about a preschool student struggling to pull the man aside.

"This is a monster responsible for all the tragedies in the news you see everyday! If we kill him, all of this will end!" The man said.

"So what?! All I see is a man trying to kill a innocent boy with a gun!"

"But he's a monster! Are you going to ask me stop even though he's a monster who brings misfortune to everybody?"

"My parents taught me to be kind. That's why even if he's a monster, I'll stop you!"

The man shook the blonde-haired girl aside, and the threat of imminent death now became clear.

He was going to die now.

A strange power forced Touma to spring up like a clockwork mechanism at full power before twisting the man's wrist with both hands, releasing his grip on the gun.

The mob gasped in horror.

"Yo-You monster! You took five shots to the back and you're still standing?!"

Most humans would have already died, but not Touma. He did not know how far his inability to die easily could go, but today he learned that he could survive up to five shots to his body without dying.

The mob scattered away as the police arrived.

"Are you still okay?!" The blonde-haired girl stood close to Touma, but unwilling to touch him, afraid that she would worsen his injuries by doing so.

Touma coughed out blood, glaring at the girl who must be mentally ill. "You're going to regret this."

She was not the first stranger who wanted to protect him.

"I might be an exception."

The first few strangers who wanted to protect him ended up dead due to unnatural causes. That girl will not be an exception.

"And besides," The blonde-haired girl said, "I only saved you because I wanted to save you, that's all."

However, she was the first stranger that made an enormous impact to his lonely and miserable life.

* * *

 **Part 4**

After spending five days in the village of Tarbes with Siesta and Tabitha, Touma could finally head back to the academy with them after receiving news that the Black Bullet had murdered Count Mott.

But as the three were sighted at his mansion before his death, it took another day of interrogation by the Royal Court before they could all return to the academy.

As agreed between them beforehand if they were to be interrogated, Siesta was just a maid that got dragged along by the Imagine Breaker and Tabitha as they fought and escaped a crazed Count Mott.

Meanwhile, Touma was riding a dragon with Tabitha at night when they saw soldiers outside Count Mott's mansion fighting against each other. Concerned, Tabitha flew over to try and stop the fighting, but failed. Thus, she knocked all of the soldiers unconscious with her Air Hammer spell.

The windows later shattered for no reason, and they both entered the mansion to see Count Mott and the remaining soldiers acting crazy and hostile so they were forced to retaliate and took the maid Siesta along and escaped as she was the only lucid person around.

All potential charges against them were dropped and they returned to the academy safe and sound.

Touma smiled to a maid walking past him as he stood outside Leivinia's room.

She smiled back in return.

If it was six days ago, that maid would have just ignored him with a scowl on her face.

While those maid could not openly celebrate his heroic act with a feast because in the eyes of the Royal Court he only happened to take Siesta away by chance, all of them knew in their heart that he was the hero who saved Siesta, so they no longer had any reason to hate him anymore.

Siesta opened the door, beckoning Touma to enter. She was done cleaning Leivinia up.

The healers said if she did not wake up within three days, she would most probably stay in a coma forever.

Is that it? Would Leivinia really stay in a coma forever since it has been six days already?

"Is there really nothing we could do?" Touma sighed, hoping for a response from Leivinia as he stroked her hair again.

Their time together might have been short, and she was not the most pleasant person to be around with, but she was kind enough to give him a place to stay in. It frustrated Touma that there was nothing he could do to change the situation.

Siesta placed a hand on his shoulder and shot him a reassuring smile. "Miss Birdway is a good person who treated us maids fairly. I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"Perhaps."

Seeing how depressed he seemed to be as he sat beside Leivinia deep in thoughts, Siesta decided that she should do something to make him feel better.

And there was one thing that would always make a man feel better according to all the novels she had read. Surely there must be some truth in it if it was written in so many novels.

Siesta briefly pressed her lips on his soft cheeks.

Her face flushed red, and she pursed her lips in embarrassment as he looked at her confused.

"I ju-just wanted to cheer you up!" Siesta said.

He smiled.

 _I don't need a reason to save someone._

That was what he said to her friend Alayna with a smile. The true reason behind why he decided to save her together with Tabitha even if she had been cruel by hurling a pot of boiling porridge at him.

 _Even if those nobles are corrupted and cruel people, I can't just abandon and leave them to die._

It was not a lousy excuse after all.

He was a true hero who would save anyone, evil or not.

And for that hero, Siesta was willing to do anything for him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)

If you're wondering, Alayna is the name of the crying maid that Touma stumbled upon in Chapter 4.

Just a setup chapter, so I guess its kinda short (and also why Leivinia is still not awake yet, unfortunately), although I hope you found the chapter interesting enough, especially the fight scenes.

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.

slaiser: Thanks :)

zed: Well, cutting Touma's arm is something I'd like to reserve for later, so just keep reading I guess? :D


	8. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7: Familiar Day_  
**

 ** _Edited: 10/02/16_**

* * *

 **Part 1**

Touma thought Patricia Birdway was a miracle.

The miracle was not just only about Patricia having a way to save her comatose sister Leivinia as she cut and folded paper into curious shapes, and placed them on a large circle filled with complicated symbols she had drawn on the floor.

It was also about a girl who looked exactly like Leivinia with their hairstyle differentiating them apart, but she had a humble and sweet demeanour unlike Leivinia. Seeing a humble and sweet Leivinia was so miraculous that it felt extremely jarring, but at least their hair made it easier for Touma to tell the difference between the twins.

Siesta had left the room to help out with the preparations for Familiar Day, so it was only Patricia and him inside the room with the unconscious Leivinia as he leaned back against the wall, trying to figure out what Patricia was doing with no success. His knowledge about magic despite his increased opportunities to look at magic textbooks was still limited.

Patricia placed the last piece of paper onto the ritual circle, and sat down cross-legged facing the circle. She took out her wand, uttered a short incarnation before tapping the circle once with the wand.

This was heretic magic according to her.

Brimiric magic relied on 'willpower', or in a term Touma understood it best, mana. Thus, Brimiric magic was all about drawing power from the inside to cast magic in the most efficient way possible.

However, heretic magic relied on drawing power from an outside source to cast magic. Thus, it was all about aligning oneself using related runes and spiritual items to that source to cast magic. It was heretical because it was different from magic taught by Founder Brimir.

Special Academians like him were considered as heretics for that reason as well.

And nobles who uses Brimiric magic were people who could oppress commoners and execute heretics on the spot. Touma has not seen enough yet to judge how true that was, but from his experience with Count Mott, and the way some nobles treated the maids in this academy gave him a pretty good idea about the situation.

Patricia frowned as she kept tapping on the circle with the wand, "There is an odd disturbance preventing me from turning this room into a temple, but where?"

"What exactly are you trying to do? Temple?"

"It's a little hard to explain, and not even I fully understand it, but a temple is something that allows me to convert my willpower into specialized willpower that would make the ritual work."

The paper pieces shaped in different ways inside the drawn circle filled with complicated symbols in front of Patricia was a crude replica model of the room with the paper pieces representing the main objects such as the study desk and the bed inside the room. As long as the shapes were mostly accurate, the material used to represent the main objects did not matter at all.

Once the magical circle beneath the model was activated, the process of turning the room into a temple would be completed, but something was preventing the circle from being activated. Did she draw a symbol incorrectly, or did she not fold a paper piece accurately enough to be recognized as part of the room? If the disturbance was coming from an external source, then what would be the most likely suspect?

"I think the disturbance might be from my right hand." Touma said. Was it because his right hand came in contact with the walls when she activated her temple?

"Right hand? Oh yes, you're Leivinia's familiar... the Imagine Breaker. You can negate magic with your right hand?"

"Yeah. I don't really understand what you're trying to do, but I think my right hand might be negating the magic around the area. I guess I'll wait outside then."

Patricia nodded with a smile as Touma made his way outside.

As soon as Touma left the room, she uttered a short incarnation and tapped the circle once with her wand again.

The circle flared bright white.

Patricia could feel a odd connection between the model laid on the circle, and the actual room around her. She succeeded in turning the room into a temple with her as the power source.

A right hand that could negate magic... Imagine Breaker...

Imagine Breaker was the name of the dragon that her father Thomas Birdway once owned. She never met her father before, but from all the stories verified as true from her mother, he was an amazing guy. It was a shame that he passed away before she had a chance to talk to him.

Was it just a coincidence that the name of Leivinia's familiar happened to be the same as that dragon? Patricia did not remember the dragon having the ability to negate magic, other than the fact that it was a near indestructible dragon which could shrug off even a square class spell and continue fighting. Maybe it was secretly negating magic?

Perhaps Leivinia could tell her more when she wakes up.

If they were finally on talking terms.

* * *

 **Part 2**

Saiai found the culture in Tristain disappointing.

Was the culture in Tristain all about blatant discrimination against people of her kind?

At least escaping into the forest still remained one of the viable ways to evade pursuit from the stubborn armored knights. However, as both Frenda and her ended up on a different route than planned, it took a considerable amount of time for them to reach the rendezvous at another forest located near Tristain's Academy of Magic where their leader Mugino Shizuri would be at.

"... You two are three hours late. Explain yourself." Shizuri said.

Mugino Shizuri was a woman who looked like a gentle big sister with long, brown hair instead of a terrifying demon if she wasn't clearly displeased with the both, arms folded as she sat on the headless corpses of two orcs stacked on top of each other.

Saiai gulped. A displeased Shizuri always meant punishments, and punishments was something she never wanted to experience again.

"Well... I and Frenda was just super chilling at a bar when a crazy mage super attacked me just because I'm an Academian! After that, we were pursued by armored mages for attacking that crazy mage, so we lost our way. Those Tristain people are super crazy I swear."

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence as Saiai endured the pressure from Shizuri's unrelenting glare, Shizuri let out a sigh, and her expression softened.

Shizuri must have understood her predicament! Saiai thought. After all, she was also an Ability User inside this country like her. It was a distant memory, but Saiai remembered a few non-native people in Germania mentioning about how Ability Users like her were known as special Academians outside of Germania... did they also talk about the blatant discrimination as well? Maybe. She did not remember them talking about it though.

"Whatever." Shizuri said. "But now that we're three hours behind schedule thanks to you two motherfuckers, our mission just fucking got ten times harder."

Their original mission was that Shizuri and Saiai would assist the professional thief that their friend Takitsubo Rikou hired in stealing the 'Staff of Destruction' which only the thief knew how it looked like, while Frenda would kill the unconscious Leivinia Birdway.

However, three hours later and now the security in the academy was heavily increased thanks to the presence of the Crown Princess of Tristain. They could no longer sneak in covertly, and escape in the same manner.

Shizuri jumped off from the orc corpses, "Therefore, we have no choice but to go for Plan B."

Both Saiai and Frenda paled upon hearing Plan B.

Frenda clutched her stomach, seemingly in great pain judging from her expression. "I'm not feeling well. I think I might need the day off to rest."

A green blob of light appeared in front of Shizuri.

"You were saying?"

Frenda forced a smile, and let out small, awkward chuckles. The green blob of light was such a great medicine that it took away her 'pain' in an instant just by looking at it. "No-Nothing! Isn't it amazing how sometimes the human body only needs a few seconds of rest to be fine again?"

"Of course." Shizuri waved the green blob of light away, "The human body is amazing in many ways. Especially yours, Frenda."

The beam fired from that blob of light may be predictable, but no one has ever succeeded in deflecting it. It was either scream in agony as the beam tore through your skin, or dodge it. Frenda also did not have a good feeling about how Shizuri emphasized that her body was 'especially special'.

Saiai gave Shizuri a mock salute, acknowledging the plan, and shot Frenda a grin.

"As quoted from the strongest man in Germania, when the going gets tough, super overcome everything with guts. Plan B is going to be a breeze!"

Frenda rolled her eyes, "Right. If I followed his advice, I'd be dead a long time ago."

Despite Saiai's slight eccentricities, it always felt good to have a team member with a positive attitude like her.

Rikou appeared from the trees with her usual, odd pink outfit.

Saiai rushed over and gave her a big hug. She must have missed Rikou a lot.

It has been quite a long while since Rikou parted ways with them after she finally found her beloved 'Hama-chan'. It was also nice to have someone who knew what she was doing executing the plan. Frenda thought.

Maybe... Plan B was going to be a breeze after all.

* * *

 **Part 3**

Matilda sat inside the office of the Headmaster of the Tristain's Academy of Magic at her simple desk located further ahead from the Headmaster's own desk, clearing paperwork after paperwork.

She put down her quill, and looked at the bright blue sky through the window.

"I should take a break."

Today was Familiar Day after all, and being stuck here alone doing work while everyone was given the day off sucked.

As she was the only secretary in the whole academy, the amount of paperwork she had to do was not a laughing issue.

Also, being molested and having her panties peeked at by the pervert Headmaster was not a laughing issue as well. If it was not for a stable job which paid well, and him not going beyond that, she would have reported this to the Royal Court.

Matilda took out her wand, uttered a short incarnation before levitating through the window and landed softly onto the grass below her.

Normally, being a secretary was a position in the academy reserved for commoners, but she was a fallen noble aka commoner who could cast Brimiric magic, so she sometimes did remedial lessons in Earth Magic for Dot Level students.

In a secluded area obscured by the walls of a tower, she spotted a student crying.

"What's wrong?" Matilda said.

The student turned back, shocked. It was Katie, a student Matilda vaguely remembered as quiet, but studious. She must not have expected anyone to find her here.

Katie frantically wiped her tears away in embarrassment. "It's nothing! I'm fine, Miss Longueville!"

Matilda sat down beside Katie and gave her a comforting smile, "If you need a listening ear, I'm here for you."

Just like how she dealt with those children at the orphanage whenever they got into conflicts against each other and ran off into some secret corner in the small forest with tears.

Katie stared at the grass in front of her, remaining silent for some time before she relented.

"Is it wrong of me to think about stealing away someone else's boyfriend. Founder Brimir taught us not take what does not belong to us, but I really love him. I can't live a day without him by my side! What should I do?"

"What do you think love is?"

"God sent us Founder Brimir to grant us magic as proof of His love for us. I think love is about giving the best you can to everyone so that they would be happy."

Matilda put a hand to her chin, "Hmm, that's true. You definitely want to give him the best you can so that he will be happy because you love him, am I right?"

Katie nodded, and Matilda continued.

"But if he's happy with another girl, why do you want to take that away from him? If you truly love him, I'm sure you don't want him to be upset if you take that girl away from him."

"I want him to be happy, but... can't that girl be me? I'm sure I can make him even happier than that girl. All that Montmorency does is to boss him around. It makes me sick looking at her treating him like some kind of a pet!"

Matilda patted an agitated Katie's shoulder to calm her down. "If you think that stealing him from that girl could make him even more happier, then fine. But have you thought about his feelings? Love... isn't just about what you think is right for him. It's also about his feelings as well. If he's happy with that girl, then shouldn't you respect his feelings instead of ignoring it just because you think you can do better?"

"Maybe you're right... it isn't just about me. I was selfish."

Despite what Matilda said about love isn't just about one's own opinion on what is right for the other party, she was a hypocrite.

It wasn't supposed to be like that. It was supposed to be just Plan A where only Leivinia Birdway would die and she would steal the Staff of Destruction with probably a few casualties who were in the way.

But the mercenary team was late for three hours already, and now the security at the academy had been increased because the Crown Princess has arrived for Familiar Day which would start anytime soon.

Tiffania would not approve of this just because she did it for the sake of protecting her from harm.

Matilda heard a soft, mechanical click.

Katie fell over with blood oozing from a circular wound through her head. It was like someone had stabbed a wand through her head without any resistance.

It was Takitsubo Rikou holding a weapon similar to a flintlock pistol in shape, but the design was very different. Not only that, a metallic pole was attached to the muzzle, making the weapon longer than a usual flintlock pistol.

"Let's go. There's no time." Rikou said.

It frightened Matilda a little at how remorseless Rikou seemed to be when she took away an innocent life, but at least it was not Tiffania.

That was all it mattered to her.

* * *

 **Part 4**

It was a breeze for Kirche to take care of the unconscious Leivinia while Tabitha and her darling were away by asking those horny males clamoring after her body to help her out.

Today was Familiar Day, so the courtyard were packed with many students like her doing some last minute practising with their familiar.

Kirche nodded at Flame, her beautiful red fire salamander from the treacherous Firetop Mountain.

Flame spat out a stream of fire while she waved her wand around like she was pulling the fire out from the creature with magic before twisting the fire into a burning design of a large butterfly with intricate pattern woven on the wings.

A group of males clapped and cheered at how dazzling her performance was. Being able to manipulate fire to that extent was also a sign of her talent in Fire magic.

Kirche bowed to her audience with her usual confident smile before nuzzling up against Flame affectionately.

"You did a great job, Flame!"

Meanwhile, some of the girls gathered at a corner and started talking among themselves.

It must be them gossiping about her again.

After all, Kirche Von Zerbst was a controversial figure in the academy second to Leivinia Birdway for sleeping around with guys and stealing them away from other girls.

It wasn't her fault if those guys chose to cheat on their girlfriends. All she did was to throw herself onto those weak-willed Tristain males who would immediately jump at the first opportunity at fornication with an attractive lady like her without caring about their beloved girlfriend.

Honestly, those girls should just loosen up a little. Acting so prudish like a pure maiden all the time isn't going to keep your boyfriend's heart from straying.

Kirche sighed as she noticed the grandiose stage at the end of the field.

If only her darling wasn't too busy taking care of that Leivinia, then he would be able to watch her perform on that stage.

There were nasty rumors about how Tabitha slept with her darling during the six days they were away, and how her darling and Tabitha were Reconquista members who killed the Imperial Messenger as part of their plan to invade Tristain next after Albion.

While the first rumor were just bullshit that those girls love to spin against people they hate, the second rumor worried Kirche quite a bit.

Her darling was an Ability User, or Academian heretic in Tristain. If such a rumor were to go out of hand, the Royal Court of Tristain might just use this as a reason to execute him despite being Leivinia's familiar. If he had not proven himself as a strong Ability User from the start through the duel with Guiche, some of the more fanatical nobles in the academy might have already taken the chance to kill him while his master Leivinia was unconscious. But if he were not strong, then he wouldn't be her darling in the first place.

Kirche felt someone nudging her with a staff.

"It's time." Tabitha said.

She made her way to the seats placed in front of the stage with Tabitha. It was rather impressive that Tabitha managed to avoid knocking into people despite having her eyes glued to a book as they moved through the crowd heading towards the seats as well.

The Crown Princess of Tristain was rumored to have beauty unparalleled by any other females in Tristain. Many guys would literally give their arm away just for a date with the princess.

"So... that's the Crown Princess?" Kirche mumbled, unimpressed.

Loud ceremonial music rang across the courtyard, signalling the arrival of the Crown Princess of Tristain.

Flanked by two rows of six heavily armored knights each, and accompanied behind by the Headmaster and a few senior lecturers like Professor Colbert and Professor Chevreuse, and the Royal Band of Tristain further behind playing the music with their long fanfare, the Crown Princess made her way up the stage.

She was attractive with her features giving off a youthful, lady-like personality adorned by her short, wavy, purple hair, but she was not exceptionally attractive like a painting of a beautiful goddess done by a master artist. Yet, those lustful guys were looking at the Crown Princess like a goddess.

Kirche nudged Tabitha seated beside her before whispering towards her, "Who do you think is the most beautiful? Me or her?"

"Truth?"

"Of course I want the truth."

Tabitha put down her book, and looked at Kirche with her usual, blank expression. "I'm the most beautiful. That's the truth."

Kirche stared at Tabitha awkwardly. That was not the answer she expected from her. If that was her attempt at being humorous, then she was clearly living up to her runic name 'Blizzard'.

"That was as cold as your runic name."

"I see." Tabitha said before her eyes went back to her book.

Kirche shook her head with a smile. At least Tabitha was trying to be more sociable, even if she was not very good at it.

Princess Henrietta, the Crown Princess of Tristain took out her wand and waved it once.

"Good afternoon to everyone of you present here." Henrietta said with a warm smile, her voice amplified by a simple wind spell. She waited for the loud cheering and applause to end before continuing her speech.

"As all of you know, a familiar is a lifelong companion of a mage summoned through a scared ritual laid down by our Founder Brimir. Familiar Day is just an event meant to improve the bond between your familiar as you two train together to put up a great performance for this event. As such, please do not feel bad if you did not win anything, or if you accidentally slipped up during the performance because of anxiety or any other reasons. The experience and bonding you get from training with your familiar is the most important thing I hope everyone is able to get at the end. Thank you."

The loud cheering and applause resumed as she made her way to the juror table located at the side of the stage.

Kirche clapped in relief. Finally, the Crown Princess's boring speech had ended.

Come to think of it, was there any mage that failed to summon a familiar?

Summoning a familiar was something that any mage could do given enough education about the runes necessary to carry out the ritual. Even so, the runes were so simple to draw that even a three year old could draw one within a few hours of teaching. Leivinia was an exception that summoned a familiar through pure willpower, but then again, she was a prodigy who reached Square class at the age of 12 so maybe that was kind of expected.

A person came into Kirche's mind.

The third daughter of the Valliere family, Louise Francoise de la Valliere.

She was a second year mage in this academy that failed to summon a familiar about two years ago from now while Kirche was still a first year in a magic academy in Germania. Soon after, Louise got transferred into another magic academy in Albion. Perhaps they thought that maybe the professors in Albion might find a way to fix Louise's ineptitude in magic if they did the same for Leivinia's ineptitude in magic. Somehow, Louise went missing in Albion and since then, she remained missing.

Oh well. Louise might be probably dead by now if she was still missing.

"... With that, let us begin this year's Familiar Day!"

Kirche had been so lost in her thoughts that she did not notice that the Headmaster was now on the stage announcing the start of the event.

An odd, metallic smell struck her nose.

She did not expect Familiar Day to begin with such an explosive start.

A blinding flash of light robbed her vision as she heard multiple explosions with the smell of acrid smoke filling her nose.

* * *

 **Part 5**

The Founder's Music Box.

It was a music box said to be left by the Founder himself.

Patricia placed it at the center of the magical circle she had drawn in front of her.

Other than it being an item left behind by the Founder, there was nothing else written about the music box. Legend says that this was a music box where only mages aligned to the element of the legendary Void just like the Founder could hear what was being played.

She always thought that it was just a broken music box that the Founder did not discard because of sentimental reasons, but it turned out to be useful in heretic magic because it was an item aligned to the Void if it belonged to the Founder himself.

With the temple ready for her to convert willpower into specialized willpower needed for the ritual, and both the magical circle and the spiritual item aligned to the Void, Patricia closed her eyes and began chanting.

She was now using magic so similar to Void magic that it could be referred to as Void magic itself because of how close the Founder's Music Box was aligned to the Void, to create a phenomenon she desired.

As the legends claimed that Void magic was magic used by the Founder to liberate people from the chaos caused by the downfall of Academia by creating the new world known as Halkeginia, by interpreting the aspect of 'liberation' in her own terms, it would mean that she could remove the 'chaos' that was keeping Leivinia unconscious in order to 'liberate' her.

That 'chaos' was brain damage, so to 'liberate' Leivinia from the 'chaos', no matter how great the brain damage was, it would be erased with no exceptions.

After the chanting was done, Patricia felt the temple fading away by itself. It was a sign that the ritual was complete.

Leivinia opened her eyes to see her twin sister Patricia, and the paper models together with a familiar looking music box placed on a magical circle laid on the floor.

No. That was definitely not Valhalla.

"You're awake!" Patricia said, overjoyed.

Somehow, her retarded twin sister must have used that dangerous heretic magic to wake her up.

Leivinia got out from her bed, feeling as good as new. There was a small problem from being 'liberated', but that could be fixed within a few hours.

"Yes. You clearly should be happy if you didn't get your bloody arms blown off or something."

Patricia flashed a nervous smile. "But it all worked out in the end, so that's alright I guess."

"Well, thank you for your help then. Now get lost."

Being around with Patricia made her sick. Seeing herself acting so timidly and so... different had that effect.

Tremors shook the room. From the window, Leivinia saw a huge earth golem about the size of a tower running around the academy, destroying whatever that was visible with its huge stone fists. The passive enchantment placed on the academy must be taking effect if it was not destroying the buildings and towers with one punch.

"Oh no, Princess Henrietta is in trouble! And everyone as well!" Patricia paced up and down the room, flustered. "I g-got to do something! You find a place and hide. It's dangerous."

"Why in the world would she even be here?! Can you tell me what in the bloody hell is going on?"

Touma entered the room, "Apparently, it's Familiar Day today. I think its Reconquista planning something. Anyway, welcome back. Thought I was going to live a easier life from now on. Guess not."

Leivinia snapped her fingers, and her wand appeared out of thin air in her hands.

"Sorry to disappoint you then."

If it was Familiar Day, then everything was clearer to her.

She jolted Patricia out of her flustered state with a small explosion.

"Calm down and listen to me, you retarded sister."

When Leivinia was sure that she got her sister's attention, she continued.

"You'll go down over there and do your bloody job as a healer. My familiar will protect you, so no need to be scared."

"But what about you?" Patricia said.

"Fight the golem of course, and..."

Leivinia jabbed her wand at Touma's chest, and glared at him with such intensity that it caught him off guard for a moment as he blinked wide-eyed.

"You! You will stay with Patricia at all times. You will not be a retard and jump in front of any danger just to save a random person and leave her defenseless. Is that understood? If she dies, you will answer with your life."

In the end, how matter how much Leivinia disliked Patricia Birdway, she was still her sister.

* * *

 **Part 6**

Saiai landed on the burning courtyard, smoke all around her.

Unconscious students on fire were scattered around the field together with bits and pieces of wood and cloth that used to be parts of the decoration placed up for Familiar Day.

She took out a two revolvers from each pocket, and fired at the unconscious bodies.

In about one to two seconds, Saiai finished firing the six bullets inside each revolvers, killing 12 unconscious nobles plus maybe four more as she snapped the empty guns into two and hurled each parts with so much force that it was embedded deep inside their skull.

It was a special kind of flintlock pistol from Rikou made with primitive Academia technology, and it was a super good one unlike that stupid, slow flintlock pistol.

Her task was to kill as much nobles as she could. The destruction of the structures would be handled by that huge earth golem almost as tall as the structures itself.

A flash snow storm blew the smoke away and put out the fire, revealing Saiai's exact location.

She leaped backwards to dodge a flying ice javelin from a blue-haired bespectacled girl wielding a staff.

A Germanian noble with tanned skin and red hair hurled fireballs at her which she dodged with ease as well.

However, a flame snake erupted out of nowhere and slammed her to the ground. Saiai winced at the painful, burning sensation around her body. The flame snake had almost penetrated through her barrier.

An earth pillar shot up beneath her, knocking her into the air.

A bald, middle-aged man waved his staff, and a flame snake burst into life as it cut through the air in an attempt to catch Saiai midair.

She tensed the muscles in her legs, and kicked down the flame snake with all the strength she could muster.

Saiai landed back on the ground, panting.

Those mages strong enough to survive that explosion reacted so fast that she could not even capitalize on the confusion to take them out.

Saiai may have immense strength coupled with a very powerful barrier protecting her, but she could only move as fast as a normal human.

The bald, middle-aged man urged the couple of nervous looking nobles still standing around him, seemingly unharmed by the explosion, to run away with the Germanian noble and a plump, middle-aged lady.

So her opponent was just going to be that baldy and the blue-haired girl... the Germanian noble decided to join in the battle as well.

Saiai kicked a few unconscious nobles lying on the field near her onto an onslaught of fire and ice magic directed towards her.

It was the look of horror on their face that reminded Saiai why she loved her job as a mercenary.

* * *

 **Part 7**

"How's Leivinia coping with school recently?"

Patricia said as she rushed down the dormitory corridors with Touma keeping up beside her.

It was embarrassing that she had to rely on her sister's familiar to ask how was her sister doing, but they were not on talking terms, and the few letters she sent to Leivinia never got a single reply.

"She's doing fine bullying the other nobles in classes, or skipping classes to hide in the library." Touma said.

The most memorable example was his first day attending classes with Leivinia when she intentionally performed a demonstration changing a pebble into gold which ended up as an explosion.

Also, if everyone else except Tabitha was willing to pair up with Leivinia during practical magic classes, then there must be something very wrong. Something around the lines of 'if I partner with Leivinia I'm going straight to hell'.

Even Touma himself made it this far still alive thanks to his fast reaction speed. That sadistic Leivinia loved to shoot fireballs whenever she thinks he let his guard down as a form of 'training'.

Patricia sighed, "She isn't going to make any friends if she keeps acting like that."

"I guess that's her personality. No one except her can change that."

Touma wondered if Leivinia actually saw him as her friend, or just a tool at her disposal? A familiar was in the end, a slave after all. Then again, he wasn't exactly her familiar because she apparently could not bind him as her familiar. Must be the right hand negating the bond.

Despite her arrogance, stubbornness and sadistic tendencies, she seemed to be a kind person deep down inside. That was enough for Touma to stay by her side for now even if it meant that he was walking a path that could bring him straight to hell if he was careless.

They walked down a spiral staircase and arrived at an atrium.

Standing at their path down to the lower levels was Takitsubo Rikou.

She started to approach the both of them.

There was only three paths available in this large space filled with various art pieces and ornaments.

The way down blocked by Rikou's presence.

The way back up behind them.

And the way towards the dining hall.

Touma remembered Rikou as an enemy who pointed a gun at Misaki, forcing him to rescue her at a railway track in District 18.

Like Leivinia, Rikou should not be remembering what she did back in Academy City. Even so, was Rikou truly an enemy? Even back in Academy City, Touma did not know much about Rikou just like Leivinia. She might not be an enemy.

Rikou bowed, "Good afternoon, milady. If I may ask, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at Oriz instead?"

Patricia blinked in confusion, "Good afternoon. You are...?"

"I am an agent from Necessarius. Apologies for the commotion outside, milady. My fellow agents are out there acting as a distraction for me. There's a mission we need to accomplish."

Rikou's blank, expressionless face struck Patricia as unusual, but there were many unusual people in Necessarius.

"Necessarius?" Touma said.

"It's an organization where heretics would capture other heretics in exchange for a pardon in Albion. Normally, heretics would be executed if captured, but if they are willing to lend their services to the Queen, they will be pardoned." Patricia said.

Heretics hunting other heretics. Touma found the idea disgusting, but it was logical and smart. The only way to hunt heretics was to understand how heretics works, and only heretics themselves would understand how they work. Whoever thought of this must be a cold-blooded psychopath.

"And who might that gentleman beside you be?" Rikou said to Patricia.

"Oh. He's my sister's familiar. If I may ask, what mission have you been tasked with?" Patrica said.

"Stealing the Staff of Destruction from this academy. The situation in Albion is worsening day by day. If we do not successfully acquire the Staff of Destruction, Albion might fall in the next month or so."

Patricia tensed her lips. The danger of Albion falling in the hands of the evil rebel group Reconquista constantly troubled her. She always wanted to help even if it was just a little instead of being trapped in Tristain, but her mother demanded and made sure that she stay out of this.

This was her chance.

The Staff of Destruction was rumored to be a powerful magical artifact that has enough power to wipe out an area around one quarter of an average sized forest with just a single use.

With this, Albion might be able to turn the tables around.

"I believe my sister's familiar may be of help to you."

Rikou turned to look at Touma, her expression as blank as ever.

"How so?"

"I'm sure the staff is locked up somewhere in a vault right? No matter what kind of magically enchanted lock, he can negate it."

"Really?"

Touma nodded.

"Follow me then." Rikou said, directing them to the staircase behind them.

After much walking through corridors and staircases, they were now standing in front of a large oak door.

This was the vault of the Tristain's Academy of Magic, and beyond the door was where the Staff of Destruction laid.

"Touch it, and everything that is enchanting the door will fall apart." Rikou said.

Touma raised his hand, hesitant.

He just did not have a good feeling about this. Maybe he was overthinking it, but what if Rikou was lying?

"What proof do you have that you're from Necessarius?" Touma said.

"I have no proof. We were not tasked to do this mission to prove our affiliation to someone else. I could disenchant this door by myself, but it takes time, so that is why my fellow agents are buying time for me. If you doubt my identity, that is fine. Just do not get in the way of my mission or I will be forced to eliminate you." Rikou said, her voice soft and calm. She sounded more like it was a matter-of-fact than a threat.

Patricia smiled. "I trust that she's speaking the truth. Don't hesitate anymore. We don't have much time."

She was an Academian, and rather odd looking. That was more than enough proof. After all, it was not like she never spent time with the people at Necessarius. It was the people at Necessarius with her mother that taught her heretic magic.

"Alright, if you say so."

Touma slowly placed his hand on the door. He still had a bad feeling about this, but if Patricia trusted Rikou, maybe she knew what she was doing.

A loud unnatural sound like glass shattering rang out, and the door swung open.

Ignoring the few treasure boxes filled with gold, the various staffs each with unique designs lying by the wall, books that were too valuable to be exposed to the outside world, and enchanted crystal balls and talismans inside miniature, transparent cases, Rikou went for a slim, white box with a refined looking rose carved on it.

Inside the box laid an ordinary looking grey staff.

Rikou placed a finger on the staff, and her irises flashed red.

This was the Staff of Destruction as she expected.

She closed the box. Carrying the box, Rikou made her way out with Patricia and Touma following behind.

"Thank you for trusting me." Rikou said.

"No problem!" Patricia's eyes were filled with hope. Her country might actually have a chance of winning now. "Please save Albion with this. I can't do much since Mother banned me from participating, but this is the least I could do for my country."

Rikou leaped through a window, and landed on the grass.

She thought about hope as well.

The definition of hope was a feeling of expectation and desire for a particular thing to happen.

Unfortunately, for Hama-chan, she had to crush the hopes of a girl named Patricia Birdway.

* * *

 **Part 8  
**

Matilda stood on the shoulder of her huge earth golem with a hood over her face. For added protection, she cast a dark cloud obscuring her features. She had no intention of losing her job over this chaos and destruction caused by her. Still, it was unlikely that her golem could do much damage if it took several punches just to cause a crack in the towers.

However, she was the one responsible for giving the entire layout of the academy to that inhumane Takitsubo Rikou.

All Matilda wanted now was to get a decent job and send money over to Tiffania and her orphanage. Her job may not be the best with the Headmaster sexually harassing her, and the tedious paperwork plus the extra work of being a substitute teacher, but the money was good.

The legendary thief Fouquet the Crumbling Earth was a thing of a past.

But... but...

She clenched her fists in anger as the golem punched off the roof of one tower after several attempts.

The golem lumbered off towards another tower and began punching again.

Other than giving Rikou the layout, Matilda's task was to cause as much as destruction to the buildings, while two out of three mercenaries Rikou hired would provide aerial support, and the last one was tasked to kill as much nobles as possible. As such, if possible she should take out any nobles who happens to be near her golem as well.

It was not like she wanted this to happen!

The golem's punching grew more and more intense.

But Takitsubo Rikou threatened to kill Tiffania and the orphanage children if she did not comply with her instructions.

To prove her point, Rikou kidnapped Matthew from Tiffania's orphanage in Albion and placed him unconscious at Matilda's doorstep with a message.

 _Do you understand the situation now? Or do you require further explanation?_

No further explanation was needed.

And so she was here doing as she was told to do.

It was all the mercenaries fault for coming three hours late! All of the chaos and destruction could have been avoided if they were punctual!

A powerful explosion tore the golem's arm apart into raining chunks of earth bouncing off the structures around it.

It was Leivinia Birdway.

Matilda stared at the blonde Albion girl wielding her signature flower-shaped wand who seemed so small and insignificant like an ant compared to the giant earth golem in front of her.

Leivinia was anything but small and insignificant.

A Square class mage at the age of 12, she was a magical prodigy who once took down dragons around the size of that giant earth golem.

How could a mere Triangle class mage like her take down Leivinia?!

Matilda wanted to switch her golem into automatic mode and run away, but if that would lead to the Rikou's failure of stealing the staff, Tiffinia would most likely not be spared.

She had to fight even if it was a losing battle. Then even if Rikou failed in the end, it was not her fault.

Matilda waved her wand. The debris around the area flew up towards the golem to form a new arm, and earth pillars shot out from its chest towards Leivinia.

A series of explosions took care of the pillars in seconds.

Leivinia had not even moved a single inch from her position as she looked at the hooded figure with a bored expression.

"Is that all? I honestly expected better from a hooded clown like you."

As Matilda invested all her willpower into conjuring this giant earth golem, she was limited to shooting projectiles from the golem, and hurling its fists about like a drunk orc. If she was a Square class Earth mage coupled with the right knowledge, her golem would be equally as big, but more nimble like the elves.

She wanted to say something in response, but her voice might end up exposing her identity, so it was best to endure her irritation from being taunted by a mere 12 year old brat and stay silent.

Another series of explosions ripped holes into the golem which Matilda frantically tried to regenerate them faster than what Leivinia could blow away while directing the golem towards Leivinia.

At full speed, the golem was at best walking at a brisk pace. In exchange for brute strength to crush towers, she sacrificed speed.

Leivinia's explosions may be powerful, but Matilda managed to regenerate the golem fast enough to keep it from falling apart.

But something was very odd.

Why was Leivinia smirking despite being unable to take down the incoming golem with her explosions? She also seemed to be showing no signs of moving aside.

The golem swung its fists down above Leivinia, but a water barrier appeared to protect her from that fatal impact.

Of course. Matilda thought. She must have already prepared a barrier against it.

The golem kept on pounding on the barrier, but it showed no signs of collapsing.

However, Matilda saw Leivinia struggling to keep the barrier intact. Leivinia might not be at full power since she probably just awoke from her coma if she was struggling against a Triangle class mage like her.

Maybe the Triangle class mage Matilda had a chance against a Square class after all.

The water barrier seeped inside the golem's earthen arms. It fell apart as a wet mass of earth.

Leivinia fired water lances from her magical cup towards the broken earth golem left with no arms.

Instead of piercing through the golem, it ended up being absorbed into its body.

Matilda leaped off her golem and made her escape. Just like she predicted, the rest of her golem melted into a wet mass of earth.

Although Water magic was very effective against Earth magic, but only a powerful Square class like Leivinia could liquefy her high Triangle level golem that easily. Perhaps she never stood a chance at all.

Running was the only option left.

Only an idiot would even think of fighting a Square class mage alone.

* * *

 **Part 9  
**

Given enough coordination, two Triangle class mage, and a Square class mage should be more than sufficient to take down a single Ability User.

However, the unconscious nobles lying around the courtyard prevented them from going all out against the Ability User.

If one of them were to hurl a fireball, that brown-haired female Ability User would lift up a nearby unconscious noble as a shield. And similarly if it was an icy spear instead.

Tabitha could not even use her 'Windy Icicle' spell which involved raining down icy shards over a certain area because it would hit the unconscious bodies scattered on the field.

For the bald, middle-aged man known as Jean Colbert, or to his students, Professor Colbert, it must be the same as well when he refrained from using his 'Flame Snake' spell after the Ability User hurled several students which were burned into unrecognizable black masses when they got caught in his fire magic thrown against the heretic.

Kirche was at a loss.

None of them were strong enough to discard their magic and engage in physical combat against that Ability User.

She seemed to possess great strength surpassing even the strongest knights in Germania as she lifted unconscious nobles as shields against their spells without breaking a sweat.

They could only watch as that Ability User strolled past the unconscious nobles, crushing one or two of their skulls while keeping the rest alive as a shield for their spells.

Tabitha levitated nearby unconscious nobles towards Kirche and Colbert as she made her way closer to that nonchalant murderer.

"Are you crazy?!" Kirche said.

Mages were not adept at close combat. If they were ever forced into that situation, unless their next spell allowed them to create distance between their enemy or survive the next blow, it was over.

Kirche and Colbert were both fire mages, and fire could not blow enemies away or form strong barriers unlike wind, so when it comes to close combat, if their fire or magma barrier did not burn any incoming threat into oblivion, this was probably the end.

Tabitha could form a barrier to protect herself, but that would mean she could not cast any other spells to protect herself, neither could she cast 'Levitation' spell to move the unconscious nobles to a safe place.

In hindsight, Kirche realized how short-sighted she was.

Tabitha zipped around the field using a wind spell to boost her movement speed, levitating unconscious nobles around her towards where Kirche and Colbert were at.

Saiai noticed what Tabitha was up to. Humming a happy tune like a farmer hard at work on the fields, she hurled unconscious nobles at dizzying speeds towards the levitated nobles.

Her aim was deadly accurate. She threw the unconscious nobles in such a way that their heads would clash with the levitated nobles, and because of her throwing speed, both their heads would end up being ripped apart from the neck.

Tabitha ended up levitating nobles that soon turned headless as soon as Saiai noticed.

Kirche clenched her wand in anger at this monstrous act.

Why wasn't anyone else coming to save them? Did the rest of the professors and guards decided to focus their efforts on evacuating the Crown Princess of Tristain and the First and Third Form students?

Tabitha's usual blank expression turned into a slight frown.

It was the first time Kirche saw her friend show so much emotion before. A slight frown must mean intense rage.

Tabitha gripped her staff so hard that it snapped into two.

"Showdown." Tabitha muttered.

Just when she was about to initiate a showdown between that murderer, an explosion knocked down Saiai.

She tried to get up, but mysterious, rapid explosions kept pinning her on the ground.

"Wh-What?!"

The explosions did not hurt, but its firing rate was the problem. If she could not move, how was she going to kill unconscious nobles?

A sadistic smile similar to Shizuri greeted her.

Leivinia lightly shook her wand that was aimed at Saiai, turning it into a sword. "You had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

Saiai's face twisted into pain like someone had assaulted her with a sledgehammer.

"What's the matter?" Leivinia smirked, "You don't seem to be enjoying yourself."

All Saiai could splutter was incomprehensible noise, and Leivinia's smirk grew wider.

"But that's alright. Because I'm enjoying myself."

The explosion grew even more intense.

Everything felt so distant as Saiai's vision started spinning and flickering black. The pain from being battered so relentlessly by sudden explosions that bypassed her barrier almost forced tears out of her eyes, but she grit her teeth in defiance.

"Let's see how long you can keep that face up then." Leivinia said.

When her explosions only knocked down that special Academian, there was clearly an invisible barrier around her absorbing the impact.

Even if those special Academian were using some form of 'firstborn' magic like the elves, it was still based on the four elements.

If this special Academian knew that her barrier was made of air, she would not be in so much pain. What Leivinia did was to open holes in her barrier by manipulating the air forming the barrier, and let her explosions conveniently pass through it.

In the meantime, Colbert and Kirche levitated the remaining unconscious nobles away from the courtyard into shelter while Tabitha stayed behind with Leivinia to protect her from any surprise attacks.

From the shelter, Colbert spotted something in the air and stopped Kirche from exiting the shelter.

It was something he only saw in rare books.

The Staff of Destruction.

A powerful magical artifact rumored to have enough power to wipe out an area around one quarter of an average sized forest with just a single use.

But calling it a magical artifact was technically incorrect.

It was actually standard Academia technology disguised as a staff which nobody knew how to remove that disguise for use, so the Royal Court decided to keep it locked up in the academy's vault.

Many times smaller than a battleship, but possesses even more destructive power than one. If a country ever found a way to mass produce such technology ahead of everyone else, this would be the end of the remaining four countries. Not even Germania with the strongest military power could fight against 50,000 elite battleships.

Attached to an Academian female's back hovering in the air was a cylinder as long as an ordinary staff, but as thick as a tree, and metallic tentacles extended from the cylinder with mini gun barrels clustered together on its flat, circular end. Two translucent wings were also attached on the head armor she wore as well, connected to the cylinder with colorful thick strings.

Almost just like how it was depicted.

Tabitha raised an ice barrier against the bullet shower fired from the tentacles. However, her barrier only managed to protect Leivinia, herself and Saiai who was somehow in range. She had no time nor the willpower to raise a large barrier strong enough to protect everyone.

Bullets pierced through the unconscious nobles that were still at the courtyard. Blood oozing from their bullet wounds stained the courtyard further red. It was like an army with pistols storming inside and started shooting at all of them at once.

The Academian's female's right arm transformed into a huge, weirdly designed cannon around five meters in length, its barrel glowing an ominous orange as the tentacles kept on showering bullets on the sturdy barrier that showed no signs of collapsing anytime soon.

Leivinia read about the Staff of Destruction in books as well.

This was a shot that could definitely destroy the entire courtyard.

She reinforced the ice barrier with another layer of the strongest air barrier she could conjure.

Leivinia and Tabitha glimpsed at shockwaves ripping apart the buildings like wind blowing away sandcastles before their vision turned bright orange.

* * *

 **Part 10**

A gruesome scene of destruction greeted both Touma and Patricia.

After Rikou took the Staff of Destruction and left through a window, they wanted to go check on the people attending Familiar Day at the courtyard.

Rikou said the other Necessarius agents were outside creating a distraction for her to steal the staff.

Was this what they meant by distraction?

There were only rubble surrounding a scorched black ground littered with charred lumps. Some shaped like an arm, or a leg. The large lumps were shaped like a person.

All this destruction and killing for the sake of stealing the Staff of Destruction from the academy's vault.

Patricia clasped her hands together and made a small prayer to those who were killed as she trembled in confusion.

Was it necessary to go that far?

All Rikou needed was a distraction, not a slaughterfest! Why? Why did her fellow Neccesarius agents have to resort to murder?! What was their reason?!

Touma nudged Patricia out of her thoughts, and pointed at Leivinia and Tabitha lying on the ground up ahead with burns all over their body, but still conscious and breathing.

Patricia rushed over with Touma following behind and cast a quick healing spell to remove their burns.

"What happened?!" Touma said.

Leivinia sucked in a few deep breathes before she managed to muster a reply. "The Staff of Destruction. It was all a distraction. The golem, and the killing in the courtyard."

Just like what Rikou said, this was all a distraction for her to steal the Staff of Destruction.

"They succeeded." Leivinia got up on her feet, brushing dirt off her clothes. "But I was having fun torturing one of their comrades. So they probably sent someone to save her using the Staff of Destruction."

That explained everything.

Rikou must have known how powerful Leivinia was, so she used the Staff of Destruction to save one of her fellow agents tortured by Leivinia. Because the staff was too powerful, it ended up destroying the entire courtyard, killing anyone not protected by a barrier or something.

If both him and Patricia had made in time here before Rikou used the Staff of Destruction, all of this could have been avoided by explaining what was going on.

"Did you refuse to let her go or something? I don't certainly see why would someone unleash such a terrifying power against you without any warning." Touma said.

"That's what she bloody did. Without any warning at all. If it wasn't for Tabitha raising an ice barrier in the nick of time, I would have been killed by the rapid bullet firing tentacles first."

"Rapid bullet firing tentacles?! Are you sure that's the Staff of Destruction you're looking at?"

"It's called a Staff of Destruction because it was found in the form of a staff. Its true form is a cannon capable of great destruction supported by tentacles that can fire a lot of bullets at once. According to the book, this is an example of standard Academia technology. Have you seen something like this in your world?"

"Definitely not something that could be mass produced in my world."

Touma never saw one before, but given Academy City's technological advancements, it might be possible that such technology has already been invented.

"Ah yes. You're from the primitive age, aren't you?" Leivinia said.

"Primitive age? Don't make it sound like your world is more advanced than my world. For starters, your world has no cellphones to begin with, so you people can only send letters back and forth instead of texting each other. "

"How fast can your so called texting be anyway."

Leivinia only remembered 'texting' as a function that an object called a cellphone was capable of. And... what exactly was a cellphone again? But she could not look stupid in front of her retarded familiar.

"Less than a second."

"Well then." Leivinia folded her arms with a smug smile. "Why don't you explain how this is achieved? I'll admit that I'm a little ignorant regarding Academia's technology, but surely you'd know right? Your world is more advanced than my world after all. "

And so, this marks the return of the arrogant brat Leivinia Birdway like how he remembered her during their first encounter.

Touma was not about to let her emerge as the victor as he launched into his best explanation about how a cellphone works.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

As always, thanks for reading and reviewing this story :)

This was a really, really hard chapter to write because the ideas I initially had for this chapter kept on changing as I wrote it. For example, Shizuri was supposed to just barge in, meet Touma outside the door, and get into a fight, but she was eventually relegated to air support as I continued writing.

To get some inspiration for this chapter, I went and read a couple of other ZnT's crossover stories involving the Familiar Day and Fouquet Arc like vendetta543's Twisted Reflection which by the way is a pretty good story, but I don't know much about Dark Souls, so the later chapters got kinda confusing for me sadly. Actually, if you noticed, this chapter was greatly inspired by Twisted Reflection Chapter 11, so to vendetta543, thanks and hope you keep updating :)

And Leivinia is finally back, so yay I guess?

I thought with the backstory I thought up for Leivinia, she would utterly detest her sister Patricia, but somehow I was wrong. Although Leivinia doesn't like Patricia, she's still rather protective of her which surprised me quite a bit.

It was also interesting to combine ZnT's lore and To Aru's magic system to wake Leivinia up. For the readers who knows nothing about To Aru, hope it wasn't that confusing.

Do leave a review if you liked it, or if you're kind enough to offer ideas or advice to me so that I can improve this chapter and also not struggle as much writing the next chapter.

 **Edit (10/02/16):**

After a review saying that my chapter was kinda rushed, I thought about how I could improve it, and this is the result. I hope its better, and thank you for providing suggestions to help me improve :)


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